MERCED, Calif. - The University of California, Merced men's basketball team returned home for the first time in nearly a month and earned a 67-59 victory over Bushnell University on Hostetler Court Saturday night inside the Joseph Edward Gallo Gymnasium.

The Bobcats (3-5) improved to 3-1 at home this season with the win and are now 9-1 in their last ten home games dating back to last year.

UC Merced was led by Tiler Fears and Jayson Wiltz, who contributed 16 and 14 points off the bench, respectively. Fears' scoring output tied his career-high and the majority of his points came at the charity stripe. The sophomore earned 18 foul shots and sunk a program record 14 of them, besting the previous record of 13 set by Aki Chambers on November 12, 2012. He also had three assists.

Wiltz's 14-point effort came in just his second career game. Prior to tonight, Wiltz had only played five total minutes due to an injury. The Riverside, Calif., native shot 71% (5-7) from the floor and 50% (2-4) from downtown.

Justin Nguyen pitched in nine points on 50% shooting. Freshman Caleb Gilbert finished with eight points and shared team-high with six rebounds and two steals. Both his rebounds and steals numbers marked a career-high.

The other Bobcats with six rebounds were Onkar Sidhu and Jaron Mertle. Mertle extended his streak of six rebounds or more to a career-best four games. 

Other notable streaks include Mason Westlake knocking down at least one three-point field goal for the tenth straight regular season game dating back to last year.

Head coach Kevin Pham's team essentially picked up a wire-to-wire to win and led for the final 35 minutes after Jaron Mertle buried his second career triple to break a 3-3 tie. 

Soon after, a cutting Fears benefitted from a Sidhu assist to put the Bobcats up 14-7. Josiah Ajiake extended the lead with a triple and then a Nguyen jumper with six minutes left in the first half put the Bobcats up by eleven points, 29-18. Saturday night marked Nguyen's first game since November 12 due to an injury.

The Bobcats biggest lead of the half slowly shrunk leading up to intermission and the lead was 35-30 heading into the locker room.

Nguyen buried a triple to start the second half but the scoring slowed momentarily for both teams after that. Bushnell scored just five points in the next ten minutes, while UC Merced was held scoreless for over five minutes before exploding for a 10-0 run to go up by a then game-high 13 points at 48-35 midway through the frame. Wiltz accounted for half the Bobcat points during the run.

Wiltz was also responsible for giving the Bobcats their largest lead of the night, 57-43 as he cashed in a mid-range jumper with just over six minutes to play in regulation. The Bobcats led by double figures for the next four minutes before Bushnell began a three-point barrage in a last ditch comeback effort.

While Bushnell buried three triples in the final 100 seconds, Fears was stellar at the charity stripe to stave off the comeback. Fears' record breaking 14th free throw made came on his final attempt of the night with eight seconds remaining.

UC Merced finished the night shooting 47% (20-43) from the floor, 35% (8-23) from beyond the arc and 68% (19-28) from the foul line. Pham's team has shot over 40% in all four home games this year. The Bobcats held Bushnell to just 33% (19-58) from the field and forced four different Beacons to foul out. Both numbers were season-best's for the Bobcats.

The Bobcats also forced 16 Bushnell turnovers.

Saturday night's game was the first ever meeting between these two foes and UC Merced is now 6-2 since 2018 against first-time opponents.

Looking ahead, UC Merced hosts Westmont College on Monday, December 20 at 4:00pm inside the Joseph Edward Gallo Gymnasium.