IN THE NICK OF TIME
1/31/2009 8:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
RIVERSIDE, Calif. --- The NAIA's No. 22-ranked California Baptist University's unblemished mark at home this year was in peril, and it took a career night from Nick Johnson and ice-in-the-veins shooting from Kris Corso to preserve it.
An odd night indeed that saw the Lancers fall into an early 16-point deficit, only to come back on the unlikely shoulders of Johnson, who averages just five points a game, and Corso, the back-up point guard.
Toss in a handful of Mark Roussin free throws and assists and a pair of deep 3-pointers from Omar Krayem, and the Lancers did something no other team in the GSAC has done this year?beat Fresno Pacific.
Johnson scored a career-high 20 points, and the Lancers pushed their home winning streak to 15 straight with an 82-77 win over the NAIA's No. 6-ranked Sunbirds with a total team effort.
“Everyone stepped up tonight and contributed,” said CBU Head Coach Tim Collins. “This is a big win, and it came because of a good team effort.”
With the win, the Lancers improve to 16-4 overall, 7-4 GSAC and remain unbeaten in the Van Dyne Gym this year. The Sunbirds suffer their first loss of the conference season and fall to 17-4, 10-1.
Johnson led the way, but five Lancers scored in double-figures. Fighting off double- and triple-teams, Roussin finished with an All-American like performance, scoring 16 points, dishing out nine assists, grabbing seven rebounds, going 9-for-10 from the line and not committing a turnover, all in 40 minutes of work.
“(Mark) Roussin was supposed to be the passer tonight against that zone, and he did it perfectly,” said Collins. “We grew up a lot tonight in terms of patience, which you have to do against that zone. We stuck to our game plan even when we fell behind early.”
Krayem, Robert Rose and Davey Hopkins each finished with 11 points.
James Lewis sank a jumper just 2:06 into the second half to give the Sunbirds a 49-42 lead when Johnson went on a 7-0 run all by himself, capped by a 3-point play, to bring the Lancers even.
“I'm not a great shooter, but I hustle and play hard,” said Johnson, who got all of his points off lay-ups or free throws. “That's my game?hustle and heart. Everyone stepped up tonight and did a little extra to get this win.”
After Johnson's 3-point play, Todd Brown's lay-up gave the Sunbirds a 51-49 lead.
Krayem then buried a 3-pointer from the top of the key 28 seconds later to give the Lancers their first lead since 4-2. After a pair of free throws by Kendal Holmes, Krayem hit a second trey from nearly 24 feet out to make it 55-53, and the Lancers never trailed again.
The Lancers led 61-55 when Brown hit a 3-pointer in the corner and then hit a floater in the key to make it 61-60. However, Brown picked up his fourth foul just seconds later and was forced to the bench. The Sunbirds went scoreless for the next 4:42 as the Lancers took over.
Rose responded with a 17-foot jumper from the right side and then Corso buried a similar one from the other side to make it 65-60 with 7:32 to play. Roussin buried a 10-footer to push the lead up to 67-60, and another Corso jumper with time expiring on the shot clock pushed the margin up to nine. Roussin then sank a pair of free throws, and the Lancers completed a 10-0 run that gave them a 71-60 lead, their largest of the game, with 5:21 remaining.
“Kris showed some poise tonight,” said Collins. “They weren't respecting him, and he came up with two big shots in key moments.”
The Sunbirds didn't go away, though, whittling the deficit down to 75-74 on a Lewis trey with 28 seconds left, but Krayem hit two free throws, and Roussin went 5-for-6 from the line in the final nine seconds to keep the Sunbirds at bay.
Marcus West outscored the Lancers by himself in the first nine minutes with 11 of the Sunbirds' first 26 points as the Sunbirds opened the game making nine of their first 10 shots and four of their first five 3-pointers to open a 26-10 lead.
It's not as if the Lancers shot poorly. They did hit 6-of-11 to start the game, and finished the first half, shooting 50 percent (13-for-26), but FPU was a sparkling 15-for-24 (62.5 percent) and held a 43-36 lead at the intermission.
West and Brown led the Sunbirds with 18 points each. Lewis had 17.
