REDDING, Calif. – Cameron Brown turned in his second 30-point game of the season to lead the University of California, Merced men's basketball team to an 80-74 win over Simpson University on Saturday afternoon.
The Bobcats (12-5, 3-0) win was their sixth in a row, tying the second longest winning streak in program history. Also of note, UC Merced is 3-0 in Cal Pac play for the third year in a row.
Brown scored 30 points while shooting 60% (9-15) from the field and 91% (11-12) at the charity stripe. He scored 30 on the same night he passed Cole Taira for fourth in program history with 842 career points. Brown, who had 21 points in the second half, also tallied a team-high six rebounds and two steals.
Jaron Mertle hit six of his eight shots on his way to his third straight double figure scoring performance, finishing with 14 points and five rebounds. He hit two three-pointers.
Aidan Sevilla also turned in his third straight 10+ point outing as he was good for 13 points, six assists, and one steal. It marked his first career game with at least ten points and six assists.
Jayson Wiltz scored nine points aided by two triples, passing Cole Taira for sixth in program history with 94 career three-point field goals.
Josiah Ajiake knocked down both of his three-point attempts to pitch in six points.
Overall, UC Merced shot .643 (9-13) from beyond the arc which is the Bobcats best three-point field goal percentage since February 20, 2020. UC Merced finished the night maintaining a .521 field goal percentage.
There were three lead changes within the first five minutes and then Simpson built a five-point lead at 17-12 right before the under 12 media timeout. Brown knocked down a three-pointer out of the timeout, but Simpson answered with another 5-0 spurt to go up by a first-half high seven points, 22-15.
UC Merced answered by hitting five straight three-pointers and scoring on seven straight possessions overall. Mertle had ten points in the stretch, including splashing a pair of triples. Though, Simpson was also scoring so the Bobcats lead was only four points after the blistering series, 34-30 with four minutes to go in the half.
The final four minutes leading up to intermission were also very busy. Simpson took a 38-37 lead with 2:05 left and then it was tied 41-41 with the shot clock off. With time winding down, Ajiake drilled a catch-and-shoot three-pointer in the corner in front of the Red Hawks fans.
The Bobcats held the lead the rest of the game, but it wasn't easy. Simpson cut the Bobcats lead down to one multiple times, and the Bobcats never led by more than two possessions until the final six minutes. It was 64-63 with ten minutes left when Brown converted a three-point play the hard way to push the Bobcats lead to four.
After a Simpson layup, Brown scored six unanswered points over the next three minutes and UC Merced held a game-high eight-point lead with 5:30 to go, 73-65.
The Bobcats maintained a lead of at least four points down the stretch.
Myles Haynes had a key offensive rebound putback with a minute left that forced force Simpson to play the foul game. Simpson sent the Bobcats to the line three times in the final minute and the Bobcats hit 4-6 free throws to finish the 80-74 victory.
UC Merced finished shooting .841 (21-25) from the free throw line overall.
With the win, the Bobcats have now won five straight against the Red Hawks.
Up next, the Bobcats will host Westcliff University on Thursday, January 30 at 7:30pm inside the Joseph Edward Gallo Gymnasium.
