MERCED, Calif. – The University of California, Merced men's basketball team scored a season-high 90 points and recorded eight season-bests overall in a dominant 90-44 win over Pacific Union College on Thursday night inside the Joseph Edward Gallo Gymnasium.

The Bobcats (10-6, 8-3) 46-point win is the highest margin of victory in a California Pacific Conference game in program history. Also of note, UC Merced's 90 points are the most in a non-overtime Cal Pac game since March 18, 2021. Defensively, UC Merced's 44 points are the least amount of points allowed this season. UC Merced held PUC to just 24.5% shooting.

Additional season-high's for the Bobcats set in the win include a 55.6% shooting mark, 44 rebounds, 23 assists, nine three-pointers, and nine blocks. The 23 assists are the most for UC Merced since November 28, 2018.

Jayson Wiltz was one of five Bobcats in double figures and led the offense with a season-high 16 points on 50% (4-8) shooting from beyond the arc.

Cameron Brown finished with 12 points, eight rebounds, a season-high five assists, and two steals. The sophomore has scored 10+ points in 12 consecutive games and has at least seven rebounds in five straight.

Chris Bramah nearly matched Brown and tallied eleven points, seven rebounds, a career-high tying five assists, and a steal.

Josiah Ajiake and Jaron Mertle added eleven and ten points, respectively.

Jaden Lebel was a force defensively with a career-high three blocks to go along with five rebounds and two steals. Lebel doubled his blocks total coming into the night.

Other notables include seven points from Tiler Fears, six rebounds from Ajiake, and three assists from Austin Dewes. Fears also had two assists to pass Jonah Cottrell for eighth in program history with 102 career assists.

Head coach Kevin Pham's squad set the tone early with a 16-0 run over the first four minutes. In the stretch, the Bobcats scored on seven of their eight possessions, including making six straight shots leading to the peak of the run. Wiltz scored eight of the Bobcats first 16 points.

The Bobcats led by 17 points at 20-3 and held a 33-15 advantage at the midway point of the first half following an Ajiake three-pointer. Lebel extended the Bobcats lead to 20 points at the free throw line with 6:54 to go in the half and the Bobcats followed that up with a half-ending 18-5 run.

UC Merced's lead was 55-22 at intermission and the home team went up by as many as 35 points in the opening stanza.

The two teams traded buckets for the first ten minutes of the second half before the Bobcats started to extend the lead again.

A Myles Haynes second chance basket put UC Merced up by 36 points at 77-41 inside of seven minutes and then a Brandon Harmon triple a few minutes later pushed the Bobcats lead north of 40 points. Harmon threw down a one-handed slam with two and a half minutes left to give the Bobcats their game-high 46-point lead and help secure the largest margin of victory in a Cal Pac game in UC Merced men's basketball history.

UC Merced finished the shooting 55.6% from the floor, marking a season-high as well as marking the first time this season the Bobcats have shot over 50% in back-to-back games. The Bobcats also shot 32% (9-28) from downtown and 84.6% (9-11) from the foul line.

UC Merced's win over PUC was their ninth in the last ten games against the opponent and seventh straight at home.

Up next, UC Merced will host Cal Maritime on Saturday, January 27 at 7:30pm inside the Joseph Edward Gallo Gymnasium.