TURLOCK, Calif. – The University of California, Merced men's basketball team turned in its best offensive performance of the season to earn its first ever win over a CCAA opponent, 86-83 in overtime over Stanislaus State on Saturday afternoon.
The Bobcats (3-4) shot season-bests 53% from the field and 61% (11-18) from three-point range in the NCAA Division II win. The three-point field goal percentage is the highest since January 26, 2023. Head coach Kevin Pham's squads 86 points are the most on the road since December 8, 2023.
UC Merced's win over Stanislaus State was the first in school history for any sport. Saturday marked just the fifth ever game, first for men's basketball against the Warriors since 2013.
The Bobcats trailed 65-57 inside of six minutes before going on an 8-0 run to pull even with three minutes left. The two teams then traded buckets and Cameron Brown forced overtime as he drove right down the middle of the lane and finished through traffic with five seconds left.
UC Merced then led for the final three minutes of the extra period, including by as many as seven points with the shot clock turned off.
Brown finished the game with 18 points and tied his season-high with eight rebounds to lead the Bobcats. He hit five field goals and went 8-8 at the free throw line, joining only Aki Chambers as the only other player in program history with multiple career games shooting 100% at the charity stripe with a minimum of eight attempts.
Jayson Wiltz finished with a season-high and a road-career-high 17 points with the help of shooting 50% (3-6) from downtown and 100% (4-4) at the line. Wiltz also tied his career-high with five rebounds.
Elijah Charles and Tiler Fears also finished in double figures with 12 and eleven points, respectively, while Jaron Mertle added nine points. Fears and Mertle each hit three triples. Fears didn't miss, joining a small list of Bobcats to shoot 100% from downtown without a misfire with three shots or more. Mertle joined that list in the home opener.
Aidan Sevilla pitched in seven points and tied his career-high with six assists. He also grabbed the huge offensive rebound, diving on the floor for it, that gave the Bobcats another possession to force overtime. Then, he was the on-ball defender and put a hand in the shooters face halting Stanislaus State from hitting a game-winner in regulation.
As a team, the Bobcats started strong with the game's first six points and held Stan State without a field goal for the first three and a half minutes. UC Merced held a lead until the Warriors tied it 11-11, but the Bobcats never trailed until 16-14 at the 11:54 mark of the first half.
Austin Dewes gave the Bobcats the lead back shortly after at 19-18 and the teams continued to trade leads throughout the half. Dewes also gave the Bobcats a 29-24 lead with 6:33 left before it was all tied up at intermission, 35-35.
Four lead changes occurred in the first four minutes of the second half. Three more followed in the next few minutes, but then Stan State went on a 9-2 run to take their first two-possession lead of the game at 56-50 midway through the half. The Warriors maintained their advantage, building it up to eight points before the Bobcats 8-0 run to come back and pull even 65-65 inside of three minutes. Six of the Bobcats eight points in the run came at the foul line, including four from Brown.
The Bobcats then trailed by two points on three occasions before overtime but Brown had answer, including the final bucket of regulation.
After trailing by three points early in overtime, Pham's squad took over the game and didn't allow a Stan State field goal for the next three and a half minutes. The Bobcats started the solid stretch on an 8-0 run, grabbing an 81-76 lead with a minute to go. Shortly after, Fears made his foul shots to go up 84-77. The Warriors did manage to make it a one-possession game with 16 seconds left, 84-82, but Wiltz followed with a successful trip to the free throw line to help seal the victory.
The Bobcats finished the game shooting 76% (23-30) from the foul line.
Also of note, the Bobcats blocked four shots and forced nine turnovers on the day.
Saturday was the Bobcats first overtime game since November 11, 2023. The Bobcats are now 3-2 in their last five overtime games.
Up next, UC Merced will play at Fresno Pacific University on Saturday, November 30. Tipoff from the Special Events Center in Fresno, Calif., is scheduled for 4:00pm.
