Lights, Camera, Action!

Saturday, February 28

Riverside

7:00 PM

California Baptist University

22-5, 16-4PW

Notre Dame de Namur

4-22, 3-17PW

Notre Dame de Namur

California Baptist

Photo by: Lauren Garcia

2/28/2015 8:03:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

By: Sammi Sheppard, Director of Sports Information

RIVERSIDE, Calif. — The last time California Baptist University was in the limelight, the Lancers came from behind to grab the win. Saturday night, the No. 22 Lancers had to do it once again, but once they got going, Notre Dame de Namur couldn't stay with them.

CBU grabbed a 66-52 win to improve to 22-5 overall, 15-4 in the PacWest. The Argonauts conclude their season with a 4-22 record, 3-17 in conference.

"Tonight means everything to the seniors," said head coach Rick Croy of his four seniors: Chris Brown, Eric Hunt, Eric Nelson and Eividas Petrulis. "It's a memory they can take with them. They know they're playing for a tremendous university and they're playing with teammates they love. That's really special."

Taj Spencer led two Lancers scoring in double figures with 13 points (6-for-10). Michael Smith also finished in double-digits with 11 points (4-for-9). Three hoopsters were just on the cusp of double figures with Trevone Williams posting nine points (4-for-8), Eric Nelson with eight big points (4-for-4), and Ryan Berg also with eight (4-for-8).

The Argonauts opened the game with the first four points of the night, but Gelaun Wheelwright tied the game at 6-6 by stealing the ball away and driving straight to the basket.

Neither team could quite take control of the game, exchanging leads throughout the first half. After NDNU hit a three-pointer, it looked like the Lancers might go into halftime trailing by one. Berg snagged an important put-back, just getting a jumper off in time to send CBU into the break with a 32-31 lead.

"NDNU came out ready to compete in the first half," said Croy. "They were locked in and doing a lot of good things. They're getting better. A lot of credit to our opponent, but credit to our guys for digging deep in the second half."

Down by two at 38-36, the Lancers found their rhythm and went on a 10-0 run to take their first major cushion so far. Smith initiated the scoring spree by driving to the basket and drawing a foul in the process. He completed the old fashioned three-point play, sinking his chance at the charity stripe.

Nelson kept momentum in his team's favor, slamming in a dunk to put CBU in front 44-38. Jordan Giusti capped the run by driving through traffic for two points, putting the score at 46-38 in favor of the home squad.

NDNU cut the cushion to five points, 46-41, but the Lancers were heating up, ready to put the game away. Spencer jump started another big run with strong play at the post and Williams added two more points to extend CBU's lead to 57-41.

As the two teams headed down the stretch, the Argonauts tried to hang on, but just couldn't. Nelson put a nail in the coffin with a huge one-handed dunk to erupt Van Dyne Gym in ecstasy. The cheers didn't stop as CBU took the game 66-52.

"I think tonight was the best environment we've had to date," said Croy. "I thought we played one of our better halves defensively and fed off the crowd offensively to turn it into a special night."

With the regular season behind them, the Lancers move into postseason with the PacWest Tournament in Irvine, Calif., on deck. No. 3 seed CBU faces No. 6 seed Hawaii Pacific on Thursday at 4:00 p.m. The winner moves on to the semifinals to take on No. 2 seed Azusa Pacific, also at 4:00 p.m.

"I think we've learned a lot," said Croy. "We've learned about what we need to compete at our best and we've learned a few things we need to stay away from. If we don't, we're susceptible to getting beat like anyone else since this game is very fickle. I think we have the maturity to take those lessons we've learned during the season with us into the postseason."