MERCED, Calif. – The University of California, Merced men's basketball team fell 61-53 to Cal Maritime on Saturday night inside the Joseph Edward Gallo Gymnasium.

Despite the loss, the Bobcats (12-6, 8-4) held Cal Maritime to their lowest scoring total in Cal Pac play this season. Head coach Kevin Pham's squad allowed just two Cal Maritime three-pointers and forced 12 turnovers.

Offensively for the Bobcats, Mason Westlake and Cameron Brown scored in double figures with 13 and 12 points, respectively. Westlake extended his double figure scoring streak to a career-best ten consecutive games. Brown shot 71% (5-7) from the floor to notch his third straight outing with at least 10 points and a .667 field goal percentage.

DeDrick Martin scored a career-high eight points. Tiler Fears also pitched in eight points, while Chris Bramah and Jaron Mertle added five each. Mertle also grabbed eleven rebounds and recorded two steals.

The Bobcats held the game's largest lead at 13 points midway through the second half before falling.  

To start the game, Cal Maritime led 8-4 before the Bobcats went on a 14-3 run to grab a first-half high five-point lead. Westlake had seven of the Bobcats 14 points in the stretch and made all three of his shots. After Cal Maritime came back to tie the game, both teams traded leads over the next couple minutes. The Bobcats regained their first half lead for good with 7:25 to go and held a 29-27 lead at intermission.

Each team controlled a ten-minute stretch in the second half. The Bobcats won the first ten minutes, riding strong guard play and a stifling defensive effort that held Cal Maritime to just five points. The result was a 45-32 lead.

However, Cal Maritime went on a 10-0 run following a timeout to pull within a possession. The Bobcats final lead of the night was 47-45. From there, Cal Maritime scored five points in a row to take the lead and slowly added to it in crunch time, ultimately winning 61-53 on the Bobcats home floor.

UC Merced finished the night shooting 37% (22-59) from the floor and 70% (7-10) from the foul line.

Looking ahead, the Bobcats head to Arizona for three games in four nights beginning with Park University Gilbert on Thursday, January 26. Tipoff is scheduled for 6:30pm PST at Bell Bank Park in Mesa, Ariz.