MERCED, Calif. – The University of California, Merced men's basketball team turned in a solid defensive effort, but couldn't get the offense going until late and ultimately ran out of time in a 61-53 loss to University of Antelope Valley on Thursday night inside the Joseph Edward Gallo Gymnasium.

The Bobcats (9-5, 5-3) forced 22 UAV turnovers and held them under 40% shooting, which led to Antelope Valley's lowest point total in a Cal Pac game since January 10, 2019, a stretch of 44 games.

Forcing turnovers and forcing tough shots down the stretch allowed the Bobcats to get back into the game and head coach Kevin Pham's team turned a 21-point deficit into a four-point deficit in the final 15 seconds.

Mason Westlake led the Bobcats with 12 points to go along with three assists and two steals. Westlake shot 89% (8-9) from the foul line.

Kingsley Obiorah registered his sixth double-double of the season and second in the last three games with ten points and 12 rebounds. It marked his 12th career double-double, putting him ahead of Aki Chambers for the second most double-double's in program history. Obiorah also had two blocks.

Tiler Fears finished with nine points, three steals, and two assists. Chris Bramah scored seven points, while Cameron Brown and Jayson Wiltz pitched in five points each. DeDrick Martin hauled in seven rebounds.

UC Merced trailed 12-5 after seven minutes of basketball before a Martin basket on the block sparked an 11-2 UC Merced run to give the Bobcats their first and what would be their only lead of the game. Fears had five of the Bobcats eleven points in the run. However, the Bobcats would trail 25-17 at intermission.

UAV heated up in the second half and scored the first seven points to go up by as many as 15 within the first two minutes of the frame. The Bobcats kept the deficit within 15 points for the next four minutes, before UAV started finding success inside and grabbed a game-high lead of 22 points at 44-22 with 11:12 to go in regulation.

The Bobcats final push came after trailing 54-33 with under six minutes left. Highlighted by a Bramah three-pointer, the Bobcats scored the next nine points to cut the deficit to 12. UC Merced got within single digits and kept fighting, ultimately having an opportunity to cut it to a one possession game following a baseline out of bounds play. The Bobcats came up empty, and UAV finished the deal at the foul line to win their 12th game of the year and bounce back from their first loss of the season on December 29th. UAV started the year 11-0.

Looking ahead, UC Merced hosts La Sierra University on Saturday, January 7 at 8:30pm inside the Joseph Edward Gallo Gymnasium.