VALLEJO, Calif. - Mason Westlake, Kingsley Obiorah, and Chris Bramah combined for 66 points and all shot at least 50% from the floor to lead the University of California, Merced men's basketball team to a 78-70 win over Cal Maritime on the road Wednesday night.

With the win, the Bobcats (9-4, 5-2) have at least nine wins by January 1 for the first time in program history. The victory also handed Cal Maritime their first conference loss and marked the Bobcats first Cal Pac road win of the campaign.

Westlake, who became the program's all-time leading scorer last time out, finished with 30 points against the Keelhaulers and tied his career-high with six assists and four steals. The East Riverside, Calif, native shot 63% (5-8) from downtown and his 30 points marked his third highest scoring output of his career. Westlake's defensive efforts allowed him to pass both Raphael Durr and Michael Pierick for fifth in program history with 89 career steals. Westlake also blocked a shot.

Kingsley Obiorah scored a career-high 20 points in one of the most efficient games by a post player in program history. Obiorah connected on eight of his nine field goal attempts (89%), including seven in a row to start the game. Obiorah becomes the fourth player, just the second forward, in program history to shoot at least 89% with a minimum of nine attempts. The senior grabbed seven rebounds and blocked a shot to go along with his scoring contributions.

Chris Bramah added 16 points, four assists, four rebounds and two steals. Bramah recorded a .500 field goal percentage from the floor (6-12) and from downtown (2-4). Both his assists and steals total tied his season-high

Westlake and Bramah played a season-high 38 and 37 minutes, respectively.

Other individual notables include five rebounds and three assists from Jaron Mertle, three assists from Tiler Fears, and a steal each from Myles Haynes and Georgie Nze.

Also of note in the victory, UC Merced forced 22 turnovers which was six more than their previous season-high.

The game was tied 7-7 just over four minutes in before the Bobcats surged ahead. Westlake's first of five triples gave the Bobcats their first lead of the game at 10-7, and then he hit another three-pointer the next trip down the floor to garner the Bobcats momentum.

Overall, Westlake's two three-pointers started a 31-7 UC Merced run that put them up by as many as 19 points midway through the first half. The Bobcats knocked down nine of their ten shots in the run, while limiting Cal Maritime to just one field goal and forcing three turnovers.

UC Merced also led by 19 points at 38-19 and held a 44-30 advantage at halftime.

The Bobcats were forced to hold off a Cal Maritime comeback attempt the rest of the way. UC Merced's lead was cut down to just one possession midway through the second half and the game became tied 60-60 with six minutes to play. Cal Maritime's leading scorer, Shawn Kelley, put his team ahead a minute later. 

The Bobcats fifth year players Westlake and Obiorah made sure the Bobcats grabbed the lead right back. Westlake tied the game with a jumper, followed by an Obiorah successful free throw to put the Bobcats ahead 63-62 which would end up marking the final lead change of the game.

Head coach Kevin Pham's team allowed just two Keelhauler field goals in the final five minutes to maintain their lead. Up four points with a minute left, the Bobcats sunk five of their six free throws to put the game on ice. Bramah also caught a lob from Nze as time expired for the exclamation point.

Overall, UC Merced shot 52% (27-52) from the floor, 41% (7-17) from three-point land, and 53% (17-32) from the foul line. 

The Bobcats have now won four of their last five games at Cal Maritime after winning just once in their first eight tries in Vallejo prior to the 2017-18 season.

Overall, the Bobcats are 12-12 in 24 all-time meetings with the Keelhaulers.

After the calendar flips, UC Merced hosts University of Antelope Valley on Thursday, January 5 at 7:30pm inside the Joseph Edward Gallo Gymnasium.