MERCED, Calif. - The University of California, Merced men's basketball team dropped their final home game before the holidays, 70-59 at the hand of Dordt University Saturday evening inside the Joseph Edward Gallo Gymnasium.
The Bobcats (7-3) home loss snapped a six-game winning streak on Hostetler Court and the setback marked just the second in the last eleven home games dating back to last season.
Mason Westlake led all scorers with 15 points, ten in the second half en route to his third straight double figure performance. Kingsley Obiorah and Raphael Durr had ten points each, while also contributing four blocks (1 shy of program-high) and three steals, respectively.
Ryan Haywood did a bit of everything on Saturday finishing with six points, six rebounds, five assists and two steals. The senior has dished out at least five assists in five straight games and becomes the first player in program history to tally 50+ assists in four consecutive seasons.
Despite the outcome, no team had a lead larger than four points for roughly the first 22 minutes of the contest. The Bobcats were the first on the board via a cutting Jonah Cottrell. Dordt countered with a bucket on their first possession and it marked the first of four ties in the early goings.
Dordt managed to grab a 10-6 advantage less than four minutes in but Obiorah quickly evened things back up with four straight points.
Trailing 20-18 with seven minutes to play in the opening half, Seth Cobb found his rhythm and hit back-to-back triples to give the Bobcats their first two possession lead of the game, 24-20. Durr assisted both of Cobb's three-pointers. Durr joins Haywood as the two Bobcats who have recorded at least one assist every game this season.
The Bobcats also led by four points at 26-22 with five minutes to go and although Dordt regained the advantage shortly after, head coach Kevin Pham's squad halted the Defenders momentum and a trio of three-point field goals allowed the Bobcats to carry a 35-31 lead into the dressing rooms.
Durr accounted for two of the three triples, his third game of the campaign with multiple makes from beyond the arc. He had three such games last year.
Nearly two minutes into the second half, Cottrell connected from deep to give the Bobcats their largest lead of the night at 38-33. The Bobcats lead was trimmed to 40-38 at the 15-minute mark and the lead was gone shortly after as Dordt's leading scorer, Cade Bleeker, hit a corner three.
The Bobcats grabbed the lead right back as E'denchukwu ran the floor well as was rewarded with a stellar feed from Haywood. A 5-0 run from Dordt followed, but was halted by a Westlake step-back three.
The contest was tied 46-46 and 48-48 before the game-changing run put together by the visiting bunch. Chandler Brunstring's steal and score was the beginning of a Dordt 14-0 run that had them up 62-48 with 6:58 showing on the clock. Dordt shot 86% (6-7) during the stretch and forced three Bobcat turnovers.
UC Merced failed to get back within single digits the rest of the way. Dordt's largest lead of the game was 69-52 with 1:55 remaining. Haywood and Westlake led a final UC Merced charge but the Bobcats were only able to get within eleven, 70-59, before time expired.
Overall, the Bobcats shot 38% (21-55) from the floor, 35% (8-23) from distance and 64% (9-14) from the charity stripe. Dordt shot a similar percentage, 40% (27-67), but mustered up a lot of extra possessions due to nine offensive rebounds and 14 Bobcat turnovers.
The Bobcats grabbed just three offensive rebounds, their lowest mark in a game since December 29, 2018. Cottrell had a career-high two offensive rebounds. E'denchukwu had the other offensive rebound and he moved into eighth on the program's all-time list with it.
Looking ahead, the Bobcats turn their attention to the William Jessup New Year's Eve Classic where they will take on Westcliff University (Dec. 30) and the host Jessup (Dec. 31). Game times are slated for 2:00pm and 4:00pm.
