MERCED, Calif. - The University of California, Merced men's basketball team pulled away late with a game-ending 23-8 run to win their California Pacific Conference opener 69-54 over Benedictine University Mesa on Thursday night inside the Joseph Edward Gallo Gymnasium.

The Bobcats (5-2, 1-0) have now won four games in a row and improve to 4-0 on Hostetler Court to start the year. 

Mason Westlake, the reigning Cal Pac Player of the Week, shared game-high with 17 points and shot 50% (3-6) from beyond the arc. Westlake also added five rebounds, four assists and a steal. His offensive efforts were enough for him to pass Ryan Haywood for second in program history with 1,033 career points and George Idehen for fourth all-time with 133 assists.

Kingsley Obiorah notched his third consecutive double-double with 12 points and eleven rebounds. Obiorah needed just eight shots and 21 minutes of action to hit that mark. The senior moved ahead of Ryan Edwards for fifth on the program's all-time rebounding list with 429 career rebounds. Obiorah, who shot 75% from the floor on Thursday night, also added three steals and a block to his Cal Pac opening stat line. 

Chris Bramah and Tiler Fears each scored ten points and grabbed five rebounds. Also of note, Bramah recorded two steals and Fears hit double figures for the first time this season while shooting 80% (4-5) from the floor.

Cameron Brown added five rebounds, four points, four assists, and a career-high three steals. Mertle also contributed in all areas with seven rebounds, six points, four assists, and a block. 

Other individual notables include six points from DeDrick Martin and two steals from Jayson Wiltz.

An extremely tight game the majority of the way saw nine lead changes in the first ten minutes with no team leading by more than three points until BenU Mesa went up 20-16 just before the under eight media timeout. Six minutes later, Westlake gave the Bobcats the lead back at 26-25 after accelerating to the rack and using his left to lay it in off the glass. BenU answered with the final basket before intermission to take a 27-26 lead into the locker rooms.

Head coach Kevin Pham's team got off to a hot start in the second half, scoring on their first four possessions to grab the game's biggest lead up to that point at 35-27. Obiorah had four points and two rebounds during the 9-0 run. 

The Bobcats maintained the lead until the ten minute mark as BenU slowly stormed back and took a 45-44 lead. Tied 46-46 with 9:32 to go is when the Bobcats exploded for the game-defining final push.

Obiorah started the game-ending 23-8 run with a hook shot just outside the restricted zone. Martin scored four of the Bobcats next seven points and then Fears had a solid stretch highlighted by a three-point play to put his team up by double figures with two minutes to play. The Bobcats put an exclamation mark on the night in the final minute with Westlake beating the shot clock with a triple and then the next time down the floor setting up Obiorah for a one-handed alley-oop.

UC Merced finished the contest shooting 41% (30-74) from the floor and 29% (5-17) from three-point land. The Bobcats outrebounded BenU 47-32, 14-4 on the offensive glass, while also forcing 16 turnovers and limiting BenU to just two three-pointers all night.

The Bobcats have now won three games in a row against the Redhawks dating back to 2019-20, which is the Bobcats longest active winning streak against a Cal Pac opponent.

Looking ahead, UC Merced hosts Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University on Friday, December 2 at 7:30pm inside the Joseph Edward Gallo Gymnasium.