MERCED, Calif. - The University of California, Merced men's basketball team ended the night on a 14-4 run to snap a two-game losing skid and beat Benedictine University Mesa, 74-69 Thursday night inside the Joseph Edward Gallo Gymnasium.
The Bobcats (13-8, 5-4) improved to 10-2 at home with the win and are now a game ahead of BenU Mesa in the playoff picture with five games to go.
Jonah Cottrell and Chiwike E'denchukwu combined for nine of the Bobcats 14 points during the game-ending run that started with just under seven minutes to play.
Cottrell, who led the team in scoring for the third straight game, had 15 points in the second half and 17 points overall. He scored five straight points to turn a 55-50 deficit into a tie game, the start of the final push. Cottrell's 17-point effort came while shooting 75% (6-8) from the floor and 100% (3-3) at the charity stripe.
E'denchukwu shot the ball at an 89% (8-9) mark and finished with 16 points and four rebounds. The Vallejo, Calif., native has gone for double figures in two straight and has scored at least 14 points in three of the last five games.
Ryan Haywood stuffed the stat sheet with nine points, six rebounds and five assists, while Raphael Durr added seven points and three steals in his first game since January 18 due to an injury.
Kingsley Obiorah had a historical night with six blocks and broke both the program's single-season blocks record and the program's single-game blocks record. Obiorah upped his blocks total to 36 this season, besting the previous single-season record of 31 that was set by George Idehen in the 2012-13 season.
Obiorah's six blocks is the most by any Cal Pac player since January 12, 2019. Obiorah also had six rebounds, five points and a steal on Thursday night.
A game after shooting 50% (27-54) against Pacific Union College, the Bobcats shot 51% (26-51) from the floor against BenU Mesa. Prior to tonight, the Bobcats have only shot 50% or better in back-to-back games three times in program history. The first two sets of games both came in the 2017-18 season.
The Bobcats were also solid at the charity stripe sinking their first five foul shots and eight of ten overall for an 80% tally.
Head coach Kevin Pham's team jumped out to an early 6-0 lead as E'denchukwu scored on the first three possessions.
Three different Bobcats got on the board shortly after and a Mason Johnson putback had the home team ahead 12-6 just over six minutes into the game. Johnson completed a three-point play 90 seconds later to put the Bobcats up by a game-high ten points at 17-7.
However, the deficit was cut in half soon after and BenU Mesa came back to tie it at 21-21 with 5:38 left in the first half. Justin Nguyen, who earned his first career start, broke the tie with a triple and it was one of three lead changes in the few minutes leading up to intermission.
A Haywood triple broke a 28-28 tie, but the two teams went to the dressing rooms knotted up 31-31 as BenU Mesa's Nick Sessions knocked down his own shot from beyond the arc. Thursday night marked the first time in the last 86 games in which the Bobcats were tied at the half. The rare occasion last happened on January 12, 2017 against University of Antelope Valley. The Bobcats went on to win that game and it stands as the Bobcats only win all-time against the Pioneers.
Looking for another positive result, the Bobcats scored on two of their first three possessions in the second half and led 35-34 two minutes in. However, BenU Mesa scored on its first three possessions and the back and forth buckets were the game flow for the next ten minutes.
There were ten lead changes in the first ten minutes of the second half and neither team held a lead larger than two points until BenU Mesa reeled off four straight to go up 49-45 with 9:39 remaining.
Haywood followed with a successful trip to the charity stripe and a Cottrell triple marked the eleventh lead change of the half and a 50-49 UC Merced lead.
A pair of runs would follow, one for each team that brought the game to a close. The Redhawks Elijah Melendez scored on back-to-back possessions and then a Lawrence Combs bucket had BenU Mesa up 55-50 with 7:05 to play. The 6-0 run was followed by seven straight UC Merced points, which was the start of the game-ending 14-4 run.
Durr was responsible for the final lead change of the night when he broke a 57-57 tie. The Bobcats 59-57 lead extended to 61-57 at the two minute mark, but was cut to 61-59 with 90 seconds remaining.
UC Merced defensive stops accompanied by Haywood and Obiorah scores finalized the scoring at 64-59. Obiorah had a block and Durr notched a steal to keep the Redhawks scoreless on their final two possessions.
The Bobcats improved to 6-1 this year in games decided by five points or less and 5-1 when holding opponents under 60 points. BenU Mesa entered the night second in the Cal Pac with 82 points per game.
Up next, UC Merced hosts Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University (Ariz.) on Saturday, February 8. Tipoff inside the Joseph Edward Gallo Gymnasium is scheduled for 7:30pm.
