RIVERSIDE, Calif. - Matt & Aaron Laflin broke all-time program records and the University of California, Merced men's basketball team put up their highest point total in California Pacific Conference play, beating La Sierra University 80-64 on Thursday night inside Alumni Pavilion.
Matt became the Bobcats (9-9, 2-4) all-time triples leader midway through the first half with his 149th career three-point make. He would finish with four on the night, extending the new standard to 151 downtown makes. Michael Pierick (148) held the previous record since 2015-16. M. Laflin also needs just two more triples this season to become the first player in program history to make at least 30 three-point field goals in four consecutive seasons.
Matt's twin brother, Aaron Laflin, returned from an injury and had a monster game on the boards. The senior needed eleven rebounds to become the Bobcats all-time leader at 570. He grabbed the first rebound of the game and had six rebounds in the first four minutes and 28 seconds. A. Laflin, also the program's all-time blocks leader, finished with ten boards by halftime and grabbed his record-breaking rebound moments after a four-point play early in the second half that got the Bobcats their first 20 point lead of the game at 52-32. Laflin ended the night tying his career-high with 15 rebounds. Aaron joins Aki Chambers as the only other Bobcat to currently hold two different Bobcat career records.
Mason Westlake had a noteworthy night back in his hometown with 15 points, 12 from downtown. Westlake extended his three-point field goal streak to ten straight games dating back to December 4. Ryan Haywood added 12 points and seven rebounds, while Cole Taira pitched in eight points and a game-high seven assists. Taira eclipsed 750 career points, the second player in program history to surpass that mark.
Haywood scored the first five points for the Bobcats, including a triple on the team's third trip down the floor to take a 5-2 lead that never vanished. Thursday night's game marked the closest thing to a wire-to-wire victory since the Bobcats tallied the very difficult feat on January 18, 2018.
Five minutes into the game, Cole Taira made the first of three Bobcat triples in a two minute span to widen the margin to 16-10. Westlake had the second two triples in the stretch.
At the 10:22 mark, M. Laflin checked into the game and made an immediate impact by splashing back-to-back three-pointers right in front of the opponent's bench to give the Bobcats their first double figure lead of the night at 26-16. His second triple broke the record and he had his third and fourth distant makes later in the half.
Ronnie Kozak also had a solid first half with four points, five rebounds and a steal.
Kozak's steal came in the final minute to help the Bobcats carry a 42-28 lead into intermission.
The break in play didn't phase the Bobcats as UC Merced scored ten points in the first three and a half minutes. Westlake had six of the ten, while A. Laflin had a four-point play to go up 52-32.
The Bobcats next bucket was sparked by Kingsley Oboralt, who notched a block that resulted in a fast break bucket at the other end of the floor.
Later on, Raphael Durr and Jonah Cottrell got it going and combined for nine points in just over 90 seconds of clock time. Durr and Cottrell also picked up a steal each in the same time span.
A pair of Kozak free throws had the Bobcats up 67-50 with 7:08 left on the clock. Haywood maintained the 17 point lead with a strong take the rack at 77-60. A. Laflin followed with a free throw conversion, followed by Kingsley Oboralt's second field goal of the game off a Taira assist to finalize the scoring.
The 80-64 win marked the Bobcats fifth double figure win of the year, first during conference play.
54 of the 80 points came from the bench. Overall, UC Merced shot 43% (27-62) from the floor.
Other notables include eight rebounds from Kozak and five assists from Haywood. Haywood and Taira each had two steals.
Up next, the Bobcats visit Lancaster, Calif., to take on University of Antelope Valley in a rematch of last year's California Pacific Conference Championship game. Tip-off at the Pioneer Events Center is scheduled for 7:30pm on Saturday, January 19.
