Photo by: Conner Schuh
Putting in the Work
2/5/2018 9:32:00 PM | Men's Basketball
RIVERSIDE, Calif. — Coming off an explosive 28-point victory on Saturday, California Baptist University carried momentum into Monday night and grabbed a 95-82 victory over Academy of Art, with multiple Lancers having career nights.
The Lancers – who are receiving votes in the latest NABC Coaches Poll – improve to 18-4 overall, 11-3 in the PacWest. CBU remains in second place in the PacWest standings with its 10th-straight victory over ART U. The Urban Knights drop to 9-13, 8-8 in conference.
"I thought we played hard," said Coach Rick Croy. "We thought Academy of Art would come in and bring a great effort, they always do. This team they have really competes well. We knew we'd get their best. They put us in some tough positions but we found a way to pull it out. Proud of the guys for that."
Fresh off his PacWest Defender of the Week honor, Kalidou Diouf led the CBU offense and finished with a career-high 35 points on 13-for-15 shooting. He also dished out three assists and blocked a shot.
Ty Rowell also finished with a career high, posting 18 points on 5-of-8 shooting, including 4-of-7 from the perimeter. He also had three assists and a steal. Bul Kuol (4-for-8) and Cory Lange (5-for-11) rounded out the Lancers in double figures with 14 points.
"I think we're moving the ball well," said Croy. "The guys on the court have a feel for what each other is doing. Defensively, there are some things we need to improve on, but I think our guys will accept the challenge."
With the fifth-best rebounding margin in NCAA Division II, it wasn't a surprise the Lancers out-rebounded the Knights 38-to-25. Gabe Taylor led the rebounding effort with nine boards, which was a career high for him in a Lancer uniform, while Diouf finished with seven rebounds and Lange tied his career high with six boards.
It started pretty back-and-forth until Lange sparked an 8-0 run after ART U had pulled within two, 18-16. He floated in a jump shot and Matt Hubbard followed with a three after grabbing a defensive board on the other side of the court. Diouf capped the run with an old-fashioned three-point play after drawing a foul as he drove to the basket and finishing the free throw, 26-16.
The Knights tried to keep things close, but back-to-back treys from Rowell and Kuol increased the home team's lead to 16 points, 36-20, with under four minutes left in the first.
CBU carried that momentum into halftime holding a 42-30 lead over the Knights.
ART U managed to cut the lead down to 10 points, 42-32, to open the second half, but Diouf drove to the basket to prevent the visitors from grabbing too much momentum. It started a 12-3 spurt as CBU threatened a 20-point cushion with 16:45 left to play, 54-35.
It came as Jordan Heading in-bounded a pass to Lange in the corner. Lange knocked down the catch-and-release triple to extend CBU's lead to 20 points, 55-35.
There was still plenty of time for ART U to try to climb back into the game, which it tried, but the Lancer defense settled down as the offense built back its 20-point cushion. Rowell drained a deep three-pointer and Diouf towered over his defender to bank in a shot off the glass, 77-56, with seven minutes remaining on the clock.
Diouf sealed the 95-82 victory with a put-back with under 20 seconds to play, setting his new career high in the process.
The Lancers get a little breather as their next game isn't until Saturday. CBU hosts Biola at 7:00 p.m. for its Homecoming game. The game will be televised on Fox Sports, the Lancers' second televised broadcast of the year.
"We don't change much, just keep doing what we do," said Croy in preparation for Saturday's matchup. "We've got a great group and we're excited to get back to work."
Kuol's postgame thoughts (check out CBU Lancers on Facebook to hear more from Diouf and Croy):
The Lancers – who are receiving votes in the latest NABC Coaches Poll – improve to 18-4 overall, 11-3 in the PacWest. CBU remains in second place in the PacWest standings with its 10th-straight victory over ART U. The Urban Knights drop to 9-13, 8-8 in conference.
"I thought we played hard," said Coach Rick Croy. "We thought Academy of Art would come in and bring a great effort, they always do. This team they have really competes well. We knew we'd get their best. They put us in some tough positions but we found a way to pull it out. Proud of the guys for that."
Fresh off his PacWest Defender of the Week honor, Kalidou Diouf led the CBU offense and finished with a career-high 35 points on 13-for-15 shooting. He also dished out three assists and blocked a shot.
Ty Rowell also finished with a career high, posting 18 points on 5-of-8 shooting, including 4-of-7 from the perimeter. He also had three assists and a steal. Bul Kuol (4-for-8) and Cory Lange (5-for-11) rounded out the Lancers in double figures with 14 points.
"I think we're moving the ball well," said Croy. "The guys on the court have a feel for what each other is doing. Defensively, there are some things we need to improve on, but I think our guys will accept the challenge."
With the fifth-best rebounding margin in NCAA Division II, it wasn't a surprise the Lancers out-rebounded the Knights 38-to-25. Gabe Taylor led the rebounding effort with nine boards, which was a career high for him in a Lancer uniform, while Diouf finished with seven rebounds and Lange tied his career high with six boards.
It started pretty back-and-forth until Lange sparked an 8-0 run after ART U had pulled within two, 18-16. He floated in a jump shot and Matt Hubbard followed with a three after grabbing a defensive board on the other side of the court. Diouf capped the run with an old-fashioned three-point play after drawing a foul as he drove to the basket and finishing the free throw, 26-16.
The Knights tried to keep things close, but back-to-back treys from Rowell and Kuol increased the home team's lead to 16 points, 36-20, with under four minutes left in the first.
CBU carried that momentum into halftime holding a 42-30 lead over the Knights.
ART U managed to cut the lead down to 10 points, 42-32, to open the second half, but Diouf drove to the basket to prevent the visitors from grabbing too much momentum. It started a 12-3 spurt as CBU threatened a 20-point cushion with 16:45 left to play, 54-35.
It came as Jordan Heading in-bounded a pass to Lange in the corner. Lange knocked down the catch-and-release triple to extend CBU's lead to 20 points, 55-35.
There was still plenty of time for ART U to try to climb back into the game, which it tried, but the Lancer defense settled down as the offense built back its 20-point cushion. Rowell drained a deep three-pointer and Diouf towered over his defender to bank in a shot off the glass, 77-56, with seven minutes remaining on the clock.
Diouf sealed the 95-82 victory with a put-back with under 20 seconds to play, setting his new career high in the process.
The Lancers get a little breather as their next game isn't until Saturday. CBU hosts Biola at 7:00 p.m. for its Homecoming game. The game will be televised on Fox Sports, the Lancers' second televised broadcast of the year.
"We don't change much, just keep doing what we do," said Croy in preparation for Saturday's matchup. "We've got a great group and we're excited to get back to work."
Kuol's postgame thoughts (check out CBU Lancers on Facebook to hear more from Diouf and Croy):
Team Stats
ART U
CBU
FG%
.484
.552
3FG%
.154
.400
FT%
.818
.875
RB
25
38
TO
10
15
STL
11
4
Game Leaders
Players Mentioned
Men's Basketball Highlights vs GCU
Saturday, February 08









































