Lancers Dominate Boards in Crosstown Showdown Victory

Wednesday, December 4

Riverside, Calif.

7:00 PM

California Baptist University

4-4,0-0WAC

UC Riverside

6-3,0-0Big West

UC Riverside

California Baptist

Lancers Dominate Boards in Crosstown Showdown Victory

12/4/2019 9:24:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score Photo Gallery

By: Andrew Shortall and Danny Cross

RIVERSIDE — A hungry and determined California Baptist University team rolled to an impressive 79-67 win over UC Riverside in the second Crosstown Showdown of the Lancers' NCAA era on Wednesday night in the CBU Events Center.

Defense and rebounding led the way for the Lancers, along with another big game from Milan Acquaah (24 points, seven rebounds and six assists); a double-double from De'jon Davis (10 points, 11 rebounds) and near double-double from Zach Pirog (10 points, nine rebounds).

Acquaah with the ⛸ and the and-one! #LanceUp⚔ pic.twitter.com/YdutFmnDVj
— CBU Men's Basketball (@CBUmbb) December 5, 2019

Ferron Flavors Jr. and Ty Rowell added 13 and 11 points, respectively, in the win, as the Lancers improve to 4-4 on the season.

Ty Rowell with the 🌪 cycle!#LanceUp⚔ pic.twitter.com/JOx09g0xTD
— CBU Men's Basketball (@CBUmbb) December 5, 2019

The Highlanders may have seen their four-game winning steak come to an end Wednesday, but they are still off to their best start since the 2008-09 season. UCR drops to 6-3 on the year, with one of its wins coming over a Power 5 team in Nebraska.

Another clash with a Southern California and Big West Conference opponent awaits the Lancers on Saturday when they travel to UC Irvine. The Anteaters are coming off a 31-6 season in which they won the 2019 Big West Tournament to earned the 13th seed for the NCAA Championships.

CBU found a way to beat UCR at its own game. The Highlanders came into the game giving up just 52.5 points per game and with an 8.5 rebounding advantage over their opponents.

De'jon Davis wins the battle in the paint!#LanceUp⚔ pic.twitter.com/WvnsVFOaA7
— CBU Men's Basketball (@CBUmbb) December 5, 2019

The Lancers posted a 43-26 advantage on the glass, including 14 offensive rebounds, and had one of their best defensive games of the year. They held UCR to just 67 points and logged four blocks, several other emphatic swats, and four steals.

Not in his house!!! #LanceUp⚔ pic.twitter.com/9nVicQU8R7
— CBU Men's Basketball (@CBUmbb) December 5, 2019

A 6-2 run highlighted by putbacks from Davis and Pirog gave CBU its first lead of the game, 12-9, five minutes into the contest. UC Riverside countered to build a five-point lead, 24-19, but the Lancers answered right back and closed out the half with a 22-11 charge to take a 41-35 edge into the break.

🍨🍨🍨

It's a three scoop kind of night!#LanceUp⚔ pic.twitter.com/Dxq6GmSVtR
— CBU Men's Basketball (@CBUmbb) December 5, 2019

The Lancers built their first-half lead with a 19-12 edge on the boards (six offensive rebounds), and by shooting 53 percent from the field (16-for-30). Acquaah led the way with 12 points, three rebounds, and three assists. Pirog also had a big first half with six points and seven rebounds in what was his first start of the season.

Acquaah gives the Lancers the largest lead of the night after this layup! #LanceUp⚔ pic.twitter.com/MWrDSrqHST
— CBU Men's Basketball (@CBUmbb) December 5, 2019

CBU's best run of the game came late in the first half, as it went on a 14-2 spurt over four minutes. Acquaah erupted for eight of those points to give the Lancers a 42-31 lead with 1:10 left before halftime.

Momentum carried over into the second half for the Lancers. They went on an 11-2 run out of halftime to bump their lead up to 52-37, with the help of consecutive threes from Rowell and Brandon Boyd.

Don't leave him open! #LanceUp⚔ pic.twitter.com/MfeWdRiW2n
— CBU Men's Basketball (@CBUmbb) December 5, 2019

CBU would not let UCR closer than seven points the rest of the game, as the Lancers used a 10-3 run to build their lead up as high as 17, 73-56, with less than five minutes to play.