ATHERTON, Calif. – The University of California, Merced men's basketball team fell 66-59 to Menlo College on Saturday afternoon inside Haynes-Prim Pavilion.
The Bobcats (6-3, 4-0) cut a 21-point deficit down to three points with four minutes left, but ultimately came up short in an attempt to snap Menlo's eight-game winning streak. Head coach Kevin Pham's team started their comeback attempt with a 16-3 run.
Tiler Fears led the Bobcats with a season-high 20 points and shot 80% (4-5) from three-point land, becoming the Bobcats second 20-point scorer this year. The senior also had four rebounds and two steals in his first start of the season.
Cameron Brown finished with season-high's of 16 points and three assists, and tied his season-high for the third time already with four steals. Brown, who recorded a .636 field goal percentage, has scored in double figures in a career-best five consecutive games.
Chris Bramah scored nine points, while Jaron Mertle added six points on 3-4 shooting. Skylar Robinson had five points, five rebounds, and blocked a shot.
The Bobcats scored on their first three possessions and led for the first five minutes of the day before Menlo used a 15-6 run to go up by ten points at 25-15 midway through the half.
The Bobcats were then held without a field goal for nearly the next five minutes, but used their defense to stay within striking distance and trailed by ten points with 5:45 left. However, Menlo surged ahead with an 11-2 half-ending run to put the Bobcats down 39-20 at intermission.
UC Merced's deficit reached 21 points at 43-22 90 seconds into the second half before embarking on the comeback trail.
Mertle and Bramah scored the Bobcats first two baskets, and then after a Menlo field goal, UC Merced went on a 12-0 run over the next four and a half minutes to cut the deficit to eight points with 11:43 to play. Brown and Bramah combined for 11 of the Bobcats 12 points in the run.
The Bobcats cut the deficit down to 50-43 inside of eight minutes and Brown scored inside to make it a two-possession game shortly after. Mertle cashed in from the painted area with 4:10 to play to make it a three-point game at 52-49, but that was as close as the Bobcats would come.
Menlo followed with an 8-2 run over the next two minutes to create end of game separation, leading 60-51. It was a six-point game with 35 seconds left and the Bobcats started fouling to try and extend the game, but Menlo made all six of their free throw attempts to seal the win in the 66-59 final.
Despite the Bobcats loss, UC Merced recorded a higher field goal percentage than Menlo College shooting 45.5%. The Bobcats also forced 14 Menlo turnovers, but the Oaks countered that with a 53% shooting mark from beyond the arc and a 93.8% clip from the foul line.
Looking ahead, UC Merced will jump back into California Pacific Conference play by hosting Simpson University inside the Joseph Edward Gallo Gymnasium on Tuesday, January 2 at 7:30pm.
