MERCED, Calif. – The University of California, Merced men's basketball team used a big second half to knock off Jessup University 68-62 on Tuesday night inside the Joseph Edward Gallo Gymnasium.
Trailing by eight points with 15 minutes left, the Bobcats (2-1) put together a 15-3 run over the next five minutes to take a lead that was never surrendered the rest of the way. Head coach Kevin Pham's team shot 62% overall in the second half and 52% on the entire night. The Bobcats have shot over 50% in both wins this season.
Chris Bramah led all scorers with 19 points and got it done defensively with two blocks and a steal.
Cameron Brown scored 12 points all in the second half, while Skylar Robinson tallied eight second half points on 100% (4-4) shooting. Robinson also grabbed four rebounds and blocked a shot.
Jaron Mertle had six points and hauled in ten rebounds. DeDrick Martin and Brandon Harmon pitched in six and five points, respectively.
UC Merced led 9-4 early on and held Jessup to just two made field goals over the first seven minutes of play before seeing the Warriors get going offensively. Jessup responded to the slow start by hitting three of their next four shots, including two triples to grab their first lead of the game at 14-11.
A few minutes later, Bramah coverted a three-point play to put the Bobcats back on top 18-17. UC Merced also led 22-20 but found themselves trailing 33-26 at intermission.
Out of the break, UC Merced held Jessup scoreless for the first two minutes and a pair of Brown buckets closed the gap. Jessup built their lead up to eight points at 38-30 before the Bobcats game-changing 15-3 run over the next five minutes.
Robinson scored four of the Bobcats first eight points in the run and then a Martin offensive rebound putback with ten minutes to play gave the Bobcats the lead they would never give up. A Mertle bucket followed and then after the two teams traded points for a brief stretch, Bramah cashed in a triple to put his team up 54-47 with five minutes to play.
The Bobcats led 56-52 with three minutes remaining and found themselves at the foul line on their next three offensive possessions. Bramah and Brown combined to make all six of the foul shots. Jessup also scored, keeping the Warriors in the game with the scoreboard reading 62-57 in UC Merced's favor.
With two minutes left and UC Merced with the basketball, Bramah melted some clock before splitting a double team and working around a defender at the rim to score and put his team in a great position up 64-57 with 90 seconds left.
The Bobcats led by at least five points the rest of the way, earning their second win of the season and snapping Jessup's 15-game winning streak against Cal Pac opponents.
UC Merced finished the night shooting 52% (27-52) from the floor, 29% (2-7) from beyond the arc, and a season-best 75% (12-16) at the charity stripe.
Up next, UC Merced will play at Fresno Pacific University on Saturday, November 25 at 5:30pm.
