MERCED, Calif. – The University of California, Merced men's basketball team used a 19-0 run late in the first half and controlled the game the rest of the way, beating Chico State 86-76 on Saturday afternoon inside the Joseph Edward Gallo Gymnasium.
With the win, the Bobcats (9-11, 7-9) are winners of three straight games and six of their last seven. The Bobcats scored 86 points, scoring 80+ for a program-record fourth consecutive game.
Elijah Charles led the Bobcats with a career-high 27 points on 71% (10-14) shooting. He hauled in 12 rebounds to mark his fourth consecutive double-double and tenth of the season. He joins just Kingsley Obiorah and Aki Chambers as the third player in program history with ten or more double-double's in a single season. For his career, Charles moved ahead of Aki Chambers for fourth in program history with 12 career double-doubles. Charles added two assists, two steals, and a block. Also of note, he made his first seven free throws and went seven-for-eight at the stripe.
Jaden Hubbard scored 23 points on 75% (9-12) shooting, his second 20+ point game in his last three outings. Hubbard connected on three of his four three-point attempts. He is the Bobcats first freshman with two 20+ point games since Cole Taira in the 2016-17 campaign.
Sterling McClanahan went for 16 points, four assists, and three rebounds. He shot 50% (2-4) from downtown while extending his streak to eight straight games with multiple triples. His double digit scoring streak is also at eight games.
Cyprus Graham finished with eleven points on 83% (5-6) shooting and he grabbed three rebounds and collected two steals.
Jon Taylor had four points, three assists, and three steals. Other notables include six rebounds for Pawllos Habtom, two assists from Myles Haynes, and a block from Austin Dewes.
UC Merced finished the day as a team shooting 54% from the field, 50% (5-10) from beyond the arc, and a season-high 79% (19-24) from the free throw line. The Bobcats have shot at least 50% from the field in three consecutive games.
Chico State opened the game with a 6-0 spurt before Charles got the Bobcats on the board three minutes in from the foul line. Later on, McClanahan scored four straight points to pull the Bobcats even for the first time at 12-12 at the 14-minute mark. Chico State followed with a 13-4 run over the next five minutes as the Bobcats fell behind by nine points, 25-16. The Bobcats made just four of their first 13 field goal attempts up to that point, but followed with a game-changing run and shot 61% the rest of the way.
The Bobcats went on 19-0 run from the 8:21 mark to the 1:59 mark, flipping the game and taking a double-digit lead at 35-25. Habtom turned in the first bucket of the run. McClanahan scored the next five points and then Charles scored the Bobcats next 12. Charles did not a miss in the run, making all four of his field goal attempts and all four of his free throws. The senior had a pair of three-point plays in the 19-0 explosion. The run turned a nine-point deficit into the 35-25 lead. Chico State scored the final five points of the first half to make it 35-30 with the Bobcats ahead at intermission.
The Bobcats lead was between 3-6 points for the first four minutes of the second half and then a Charles offensive rebound putback had UC Merced up 42-34. He went on to score the Bobcats next four points to give his squad the biggest lead of the game at the time, 46-35 at the 14-minute mark.
UC Merced and Chico State traded buckets for the next six minutes. The Bobcats remained in control, leading by at least nine points in the stretch and by as many as 12. Hubbard had eleven points in that six-minute run of play.
Inside of eight minutes, Charles blocked a shot and then scored at the other end to push the Bobcats lead to 63-50. After more back-and-forth action in which the Bobcats continued to lead by 9+, Charles extended the lead again to 14 points, 72-58 with four minutes remaining.
Graham gave the Bobcats their biggest lead of the game, 76-60 with 2:51 left. Chico State attempted to extend the game as long as possible in the final minute as they sent the Bobcats to the foul line five times, but the Bobcats made seven-of-nine to leave no doubt and earn the 86-76 victory.
Up next, UC Merced will play at Cal State San Bernardino on Thursday, February 12. Tipoff from Coussoulis Arena in San Bernardino, Calif., is scheduled for 7:30pm.
QUOTES
Head Coach Gary Stewart on what it took to turn the page (19-0 run):
"Well, they were really hurting us and I thought they were in really good rhythm. And they were really hurting us on our ball screens, hedging really hard on the ball, essentially doubling the ball, and we struggled with that. We inserted Austin into the game. We went to a little bit different feel. We made an adjustment with the ball handler, but we went bigger and we were able to really stop the bleeding from the defensive side with the size and then offensively we went on a run there where we scored every time down to close the half out, and Austin was huge as was everyone else."
Stewart on the second half:
"Yeah, the second half was disappointing on a lot of fronts from a defensive standpoint, but credit Chico State, they took shots and made shots, so they took what we gave them and capitalized on that. Obviously I'm not pleased with the way we closed the game out and I'm not pleased with the way we guarded. They spread us out so we didn't have the help that we normally have on the drives and then when we did get there, we didn't have multiple efforts to get out to the perimeter. We struggled mightily in the second half. But offensively, we were assertive. We kept wanting to put the ball in the paint, either with the dribble or the pass and I thought we executed better. You know, we had some timely passes like Sterling got doubled there and found Jon on a cut. Again, Elijah was huge for us. Jaden Hubbard was huge for us. And Cyprus Graham really gave us a lift in the second half, not only with his production, but his effort plays."
Stewart on Chico State:
"Yeah, and they did a good job. Chico State was really well coached, well prepared. Schematically, they did some good things that bothered us early. I credit their coaching staff for a really effective game plan."
Stewart on Elijah Charles' performance:
"Oh, he was huge. I mean, he's an aba-daba. There's no question about that. He warrants special attention. He carries the tag with him in the center, handle with care. You know that every team in the league is game planning for him and he's accepted the physicality down there, he's accepted the double teams. He's such a gifted touch around the basket. He's really a high IQ guy. You can run a lot of different things for him and he produces and produces at a high rate. We're really fortunate to have him because he's hard to guard, but between Sterling and Eli and now you throw Jaden in there, you're starting to pick your poison with guys that can put a real crooked number up. And so today it was Jaden for a bit, and E he kind of took the car and drove it on home after that."
Stewart on Jaden Hubbard:
"It's incredibly exciting for the Merced folks, and he's just sending some calling cards to the CCAA that he's going to be heard from in this league and he's really, really talented. But the thing that I love about him is he's so easy to coach and he wants to get better. If we don't close this place up at night, he's going to come back in here at night. I mean, he's that kind of a guy. You got to kick him out to the gym. I guarantee you if somebody told him they were playing tonight at 7 o'clock down at Merced College, he would get in the car and drive to Merced College. I mean, he has a passion for it, and he's a joy to coach. We're just so fortunate to have him. He's a weight room away from being a real, real, real problem on a nightly basis in this league."
Stewart on finishing out the homestand with a win:
"We got hammered pretty good up at Chico State, so for us to come back and show some resilience and resolve and play the way we did here is very satisfying. Obviously, there's a lot more basketball left for us, and then we've got a huge week coming up with two difficult assignments, but it's streaming in the right direction."
Stewart on the upcoming road trip:
"Yeah, I know it sounds cliche, but we're a process-oriented group and we don't talk about winning. We talk about the A, B, C, and D, and focus on that because that's what we have to control. There's a lot we can get better at and we're going to get into the film here after a good dinner tonight and then get after the edits that we need to address moving forward because there's some things in here that we can certainly make some headway with and then get ready for our opponents, obviously by watching film as well."
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