COSTA MESA, Calif. - The University of California, Merced men's basketball team suffered a 78-52 setback to Hope International University on Saturday afternoon to complete the Thanksgiving Classic hosted by Vanguard University.

Zach Phipps highlighted the Bobcats (2-5) efforts in the loss with a career-high 25 points while shooting 50% (7-14) from beyond the arc. Phipps is just the fourth Bobcat in program history to connect seven times from deep, joining Mason Westlake, Aki Chambers and Matt Laflin.

Phipps made four straight triples without a miss to start the second half to help the Bobcats cut an 18-point intermission deficit in half.

Onkar Sidhu joined Phipps in double figures for the first time this season with eleven points. Sidhu also grabbed five rebounds, had two assists and forced a Hope International turnover.

Mason Westlake was good for eight points and tied his career-high with five assists. 

Jaron Mertle and Tiler Fears had six and five rebounds, respectively. Fears also blocked his first shot of the season and had four assists. Mertle has at least five rebounds in all seven games this season, the only Bobcat to accomplish that feat.

Three Hope International Royals had at least 17 points and their leading scorer was Bryce Denham with 19 overall. The Royals shot 54% (30-56) from the field in comparison to the Bobcats 37% (19-51). 

The Bobcats never led and trailed the entire game after Hope broke an early 3-3 tie. Hope followed with an 18-3 run to jump out to a 21-6 lead less than seven minutes into the contest. The Bobcats stopped the bleeding briefly but towards the end of the first half Hope surged once more and got their lead up to a half-high 19 points with just under three minutes to go. The score was 41-23 at intermission.

Out of the break, Phipps caught fire and scored eleven straight points for the Bobcats to get head coach Kevin Pham's team back in it. A Sidhu layup pulled the Bobcats within nine with 13:06 showing on the game clock.

The Bobcats were also within nine with just under nine minutes remaining, 53-44. However, that was the closest they would get as Hope got their lead back to double figures and then some down the stretch. The Bobcats deficit was 62-47 with five minutes left and 20 points in the games final 90 seconds. UC Merced was held without a field goal for the final three and a half minutes, allowing Hope to get the 26-point win.

The Bobcats four-game losing streak is the longest since November of 2017.

Looking ahead, the Bobcats look to snap the skid when they return to the Joseph Edward Gallo Gymnasium for the first time in nearly a month to host first-time opponent Bushnell University on Saturday, December 11 at 7:30pm.