MERCED, Calif. – The University of California, Merced men's basketball team dominated Pacific Union College 89-50 to earn its first win of the season in Tuesday nights home opener inside the Joseph Edward Gallo Gymnasium.
The Bobcats (1-1) exploded on a 34-3 run over the final eleven minutes of the first half to blow the game open.
UC Merced's 89 points scored on the night are the most since December 7, 2024. The Bobcats also forced 23 turnovers and outrebounded PUC 53-30. The 22 turnovers forced are the most since October 2018 and the Bobcats 53 rebounds are the most since November 2022.
Freshman Jaden Hubbard led the Bobcats with 19 points and eleven rebounds for his first career double-double in his first career home game. He lit up the scoreboard from three-point range shooting 83% (5-6) from beyond the arc. Tuesday night was just his second career game and he opened the night hitting his first five triples.
Elijah Charles registered his second career double-double with 14 points and 12 rebounds. Charles also had a career-high three assists to go along with two blocks and two steals. He shot 100% (8-8) at the free throw line and 50% (3-6) from the floor. Charles is the Bobcats first forward since Derek E'denchukwu in 2020 to shoot 100% or better at the charity stripe with a minimum of eight attempts.
Pawllos Habtom scored 14 points and tied his career-high with nine rebounds off the bench.
Sterling McClanahan added nine points and two assists, while Austin Dewes had seven points and three rebounds. Aaron Kullar and Cyprus Graham also pitched in a career-high seven points.
Jon Taylor hit a three-pointer and tallied career-high's with four assists and four steals. Jordan Bateman grabbed a career-high seven rebounds, while Myles Haynes hauled in five boards.
The Bobcats were rolling from the start and jumped out to a 15-8 lead five minutes into the night. A few minutes later, McClanahan connected on a triple to give the Bobcats their first double figure lead of the game at 22-11. PUC hit three free throws before the Bobcats game defining run.
UC Merced scored 23 unanswered points as part of their 34-3 explosion. Haynes started the run with an offensive rebound putback at the 11:36 mark. The 23-0 run, which the Bobcats scored on ten of 13 possessions, lasted six minutes and the Bobcats lead was 31 points, 47-16 at the peak. Hubbard scored 13 points in the run, including converting a four-point play.
After PUC made a putback to break up the run, the Bobcats followed with an 11-1 run leading into halftime and went to the locker room with a 56-17 lead.
UC Merced and PUC traded buckets to start the second half before a 10-3 burst put the Bobcats ahead by a game-high 46 points, 74-28 with 11:44 remaining highlighted by a Dewes one-handed slam.
Head coach Gary Stewart's squad led by at least 40 points for the next five minutes and led by at least 37 for the rest of the game on the way to Stewart's first victory as UC Merced's head coach.
UC Merced finished the night shooting 47% from the field, 39% from beyond the arc, and 75% from the free throw line. The Bobcats held PUC to just a 28% shooting mark.
Graham made his first career start for the Bobcats. Bateman made his first start in a UC Merced uniform.
With the win, the Bobcats have now won eight straight home openers dating back to 2018 and have won eight straight games vs. PUC dating back to 2022.
Up next, UC Merced will host Fresno Pacific on Friday, November 21 at 7:00pm inside the Joseph Edward Gallo Gymnasium in Merced.
