MERCED, Calif. - The University of California, Merced men's basketball team closed out Cal Maritime Academy with a 10-0 run in the final two and a half minutes to remain within a game of the final postseason spot in the California Pacific Conference. The Bobcats (12-11, 5-6) 62-53 win inside the Joseph Edward Gallo Gymnasium also put UC Merced over the .500 mark for the first time in over a month.
Junior guard Ryan Haywood led the way for the Bobcats with 14 points and accounted for two of the Bobcats ten steals Thursday night. Eleven of his 14 points came in the decisive second half.
Ronnie Kozak scored a season-high 12 points, while Mason Westlake added eleven points and extended his three-point field goal streak to 15 games. Kozak also tallied six rebounds, two blocks and two steals.
The Bobcats scored first in a game that featured 24 lead changes, 12 in each half. Eight of them occurred in the game's first ten minutes and no team mustered up a lead larger than two points until nearly twelve minutes had gone by. It was Cal Maritime who held that specific lead at 16-13.
UC Merced's Cole Taira erased the narrow deficit quickly by scoring four straight points. Cal Maritime matched that before the Bobcats embarked on their first of two runs of nine points or more.
Taira initiated the run by drawing a foul on a take to the basket, resulting in a pair of made free throws to come within a point at 20-19. Raphael Durr forced and scored off a turnover to give the Bobcats the lead at 21-20 and Haywood found Kozak inside to make it 23-20. The Bobcats got the ball back after one of Kozak's two blocks on the night. Durr grabbed the loose ball and sent it ahead to Westlake, who found Haywood beyond the arc for a three-point make.
Haywood's triple had the Bobcats up 26-20 with just over three minutes to play in the half. However, in those final three minutes Cal Maritime scored eight straight points and held a 28-26 lead over the Bobcats at intermission.
It was UC Merced's basketball to start the second half. Durr took advantage of that opportunity to tie the game at 28 with one of his four field goals of the night.
A Maritime bucket to retake the lead was once again followed by a Durr field goal, this time finishing a fastbreak with a two-handed slam.
Up 30-29, the Bobcats posts, Laflin and Kozak, notched a pair of second chance baskets to widen the lead. That sequence accounted for four of the Bobcats 12 second chance points on the night, the most since tallying 17 second chance points on November 28, 2018.
After a couple lead changes, Durr sunk a three-point field goal and Haywood tabbed a steal and score to put the Bobcats up 48-44 with 7:37 left in the game.
UC Merced either held the lead or was tied with Maritime until 3:09 was showing on the clock.
That lead change, in favor of Cal Maritime (51-50) was the first of four in the next 38 seconds. Haywood quickly countered the Keelhaulers with a finger roll but Cal Maritime had the lead right back after a made shot from Matthew Essien.
Trailing 53-52, Haywood put the Bobcats out in front for good with a contested layup on the right side. The layup to take a 54-53 lead was made over the Keelhaulers tallest defender, Ben Borja, who stands at 6'7".
UC Merced held the Keelhaulers scoreless the rest of the night.
Westlake extended the lead to 56-53 at the charity stripe and the next time he touched the ball, the freshman doubled the Bobcats lead with a via a triple.
The Bobcats were sent to the free throw line two times in the game's final 35 seconds, sinking three of the four foul shots to finalize the score at 62-53.
Overall, the Bobcats shot 37% (23-62) from the floor, 20% (4-20) beyond the arc and 70% (12-17) at the charity stripe.
Other notables include nine points from Durr, eight points from Taira and an eight rebound effort from A. Laflin.
Looking ahead, the Bobcats will continue to fight for a postseason spot when they take on Simpson University in Redding, Calif., on Saturday, February 9, at 7:30pm. Following Simpson, the Bobcats return home for the final two games of the regular season.
