Composure On Point
2/27/2014 5:40:00 AM | Men's Basketball
SAN DIEGO, Calif. --- As the playoff run comes closer and closer, No. 7-ranked California Baptist University isn't fixing its eyes yet on the postseason, it still has a regular season to finish.
The Lancers proved they still have a lot of fight left in them in late February, improving to 24-1, 18-1 in the PacWest, with a 67-58 victory over Point Loma (15-11, 10-10) Wednesday night. The Lancers practically doubled their first half points after finding themselves trailing by five at halftime.
"The second half was a testament to the brotherhood and toughness of our guys," said head coach Rick Croy. "Point Loma was well-prepared, as we expected, and thoroughly out-competed us in the first half. Our guys kept their composure and stayed at the task. It was a great night to be a Lancer."
As he has in most of the games so far this year, Ryan Berg led the attack for CBU, finishing the night with 20 points off 4-for-10 shooting from the field. Chris Brown and Garrett Jefferson followed suit with 11 points each and Michael Smith rounded out the double-digit scoring for the Lancers with 10 points (3-for-7).
Anthony Cosentino opened the scoring for the Lancers with an easy layup, but the Lancers trailed 4-2 early in the first half.
As PLNU shot an impressive 53% from the field early in the first half, the Lancers found themselves down 23-10 with just under eight minutes remaining in the first half.
Looking to close the gap with two-and-a-half minutes before halftime, CBU went on an 8-0 run to put the score within seven points at 27-20 with 1:23 left in the half. Less than a minute later, Jefferson spotted up and sank a deep three to close the lead to two possessions at 27-23, but a PLNU free throw gave the Sea Lions a 28-23 advantage at the break.
Coming out of the locker room CBU played suffocating defense, forcing turnover after turnover to create opportunities on offense. With an even higher intensity then they closed out the first with, the Lancers battled within one at 39-38 off a 6-0 run.
One minute later, Brown found the center of the lane with a layup to give the Lancers their first lead since 2-0. Ivan Patterson finished out the 10-0 scoring spree by laying up a basket in the paint to put CBU in front 42-40.
The Lancers remained in front for the remainder of the contest, despite Point Loma's efforts to foul back in the game. Down the stretch, Berg often found himself at the line, but finished crucial free throws to keep CBU ahead and ride out the 67-58 victory.
CBU finishes out the regular season on Saturday at Dixie State, tipping off at 6:30 p.m. PST. It will be one last tune up for the Lancers before they start their post-season run.
