REDDING, Calif. - The University of California, Merced men's basketball team moved into a postseason spot with two games to go after beating Simpson University, 65-61, on Saturday night inside the James M. Grant Center.
The Bobcats (13-11, 6-6) win also marked their third straight and their 13 overall wins ties the program's single-season record that set last year.
Aaron Laflin scored a team-high 17 points, including 15 from behind the arc on 50% (5-10) shooting. Laflin's five triples makes him the third Bobcat in program history to total 100 three-point makes. A. Laflin, along with his brother Matt Laflin, became the third and fourth Bobcats in program history to score 750 or more points in their career.
M. Laflin eclipsed the 750 point mark on Saturday with eleven second half points. M. Laflin also sunk multiple triples and his first make from beyond the arc in the final road game of the regular season made him the first Bobcat in program history to make at least 30 three-pointers in each year of a four year career.
Two other Bobcats finished in double figures, including Ryan Haywood who neared his first career double-double with ten points and nine rebounds. The Chino, Calif., native has finished in double figures in eight of the last ten games and the Bobcats have won four of the last five when Haywood accomplishes that feat.
Durr added eleven points and shared game-high with two steals. Five of his points came in a 90 second stretch to help UC Merced take a 26-23 lead with 2:32 remaining in the first half.
Other individual notables include a career-high five rebounds from Alfred Batmani and four assists from Cole Taira.
One of Batmani's five rebounds was also key in the Bobcats first basket of the night. Trailing 6-0 after three minutes of play, the sophomore grabbed an offensive board and went right back up to put a halt to the brief scoring drought.
Batmani's rebound started a streak of three straight baskets for the Bobcats. Aside from the putback, the other two makes were three-pointers courtesy of A. Laflin.
The Bobcats took their first lead of the game at 11-10 after a Durr triple.
Midway through the half, Taira found Seth Cobb beyond the arc and led Andrew Williams to the basket to give the Bobcats their largest first half advantage at 16-12. Williams' bucket capped off a 16-6 UC Merced run.
However, Simpson countered with a 7-0 run and held the Bobcats scoreless for seven minutes to get back in front at 19-16.
The Bobcats got back on the scoreboard with a second chance effort from Haywood and then after a Durr slam dunk and a timeout, A. Laflin and Durr converted back-to-back triples to go up 26-23.
The makes from distance were the final makes of the half for the Bobcats and they trailed 30-26 at intermission.
UC Merced was down by six points less than 45 seconds into the half but with the help of Mason Westlake began shaving points off the Red Hawks advantage.
Westlake tabbed a steal and although he missed his three-pointer after forcing the turnover, buried his next three-point attempt to extend his three-point field goal streak to 16 games. The streak is the longest active in the Cal Pac and is tied with Cal Maritime's Josh Hauser for the longest streak this season.
The deficit remained within four points until M. Laflin put the Bobcats up with his first of two triples. The shot gave the Bobcats a 40-39 lead.
The lead only vanished once before the end of the night and that was a minute later when the Red Hawks' Brandon Moss put the home team on top 41-40.
M. Laflin drew a foul on the Bobcats next possession and cashed in both free throws to mark the final lead change in the game.
The foul shots, that were made with 10:59 on the clock, started an 8-0 Bobcat run. M. Laflin accounted for five points during the stretch, while Williams and Taira combined for the other three.
With six and a half minutes to play, Haywood was responsible for the game's lone double figure margin. He did it at the charity stripe to put UC Merced up 58-48.
The Bobcats led by at least three points the rest of the way. A. Laflin added a triple at the 4:02 mark, giving the Bobcats 61 points. Taira was credited with the assist on the downtown shot. Laflin scored again with less than 90 seconds to play and Taria and Williams finalized the 65-61 victory at the charity stripe.
UC Merced shot 40% (22-54) from the floor, 38% (12-31) beyond the arc and 69% (9-13) at the foul line.
Up next, the Bobcats return home to face University of Antelope Valley inside the Joseph Edward Gallo Gymnasium on Thursday, February 14, at 7:30pm. A win Thursday would mark a Bobcats program record as well as securing their first winning season in program history. UC Merced currently holds the final playoff seed with two games to go.
