California Baptist University
8-4,3-2WAC
Dixie State
4-8,0-5WAC
Total Team Effort Leads Lancers Over Dixie State
1/29/2021 9:40:00 PM | Men's Basketball
RIVERSIDE --- Six players scored in double figures on Friday night, as California Baptist University ran away with an 89-74 victory in game one of the conference series against Dixie State.
The Lancers improve to 8-4 on the season and 3-2 in the Western Athletic Conference. The win marks the fifth straight for the Lancers and the third straight in conference play. The Trailblazers fall to 4-8 on the season and 0-5 in the WAC.
The game was tightly contested for most of the first half, as all 10 lead changes and all five ties came in the first 17 minutes of play. In fact, the score was never more than one possession for the first 10 minutes of action until Gorjok Gak threw down a dunk at the 10:08 mark to give the Lancers the largest lead at that point, 22-18.
Oh, what a pass by Rowell, and Gak throws it down!!#LanceUp⚔ pic.twitter.com/GQlB4kmlPV
— CBU Men's Basketball 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥 (@CBUmbb) January 30, 2021
Dixie State managed to retake the lead after a Cameron Gooden layup with 4:02 left in the first half, but that would be the final time the Trailblazers were out in front.
California Baptist used an 8-0 run from the 3:46 mark to the 1:48 mark to increase its lead to seven, 38-31, just before the break.
Ty Rowell caps off the 8-0 run for the Lancers with this three! #LanceUp⚔ pic.twitter.com/TeV5LDjKdu
— CBU Men's Basketball 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥 (@CBUmbb) January 30, 2021
There was no turning back after that as the Lancers held the lead for 23 straight minutes to end the game with a 15-point victory.
The energy was electric all night, as Ty Rowell, Elijah Thomas, Reed Nottage, Tre Armstrong, Gorjok Gak, and Mark Carbone all finished in double figures. It marks just the second time this season the Lancers had six players in double figures (Fresno Pacific). The time before that came against Westcliff on Feb. 13, 2020.
Rowell was a man on a mission all night, leading the Lancers with 18 points and playing in all 40 minutes of the game. He also tied his career-high in assists with eight and grabbed four rebounds while only committing one turnover. It marks the third time this season Rowell has recorded eight assists in a game.
Ty Rowell is tonight's Player of the Game! #LanceUp⚔ pic.twitter.com/Ox8yXnYbFp
— CBU Men's Basketball 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥 (@CBUmbb) January 30, 2021
Both Thomas and Nottage finished with 16 points, while Armstrong added 14 points, and Gak and Carbone recorded 11 apiece.
CBU finished the night shooting 51 percent from the field, 42 percent from the 3-point line, and 76 percent from the free-throw line. The Lancers held the Trailblazers to 24 percent from beyond the arc (5-21).
FROM CROY:
"Every guy was ready to compete. I think everyone in our program expected a really good first punch from Dixie; that's who they are. We had a very difficult time getting stops, even getting back, and getting organized, and they were ready to go, but I thought our guys didn't waver, our eyes were good, our talk got better throughout the game, and we had a lot of guys make shots, but that's the best version of us. Tonight, we had 30 makes, and 21 of them were assisted, and that's good for us. I think everyone's doing their part to play to their strengths."
UP NEXT:
The Lancers will host Dixie State one final time on Saturday, Jan. 30, at 6 p.m. to conclude the two-game series against the Trailblazers.
FOLLOW ALONG:
All home and away games for CBU men's basketball will once again be available through Fox Sports AM1350 in the greater Riverside area and beyond. Braiden Bell will handle play-by-play responsibilities and host pre-game and post-game shows featuring exclusive interviews with the team and Coach Rick Croy. Fans can download the iHeartRadio app for free and listen to the CBU broadcasts from anywhere. Simply search for Fox Sports 1350 when using the iHeartRadio app.
SOCIAL MEDIA:
Don't forget to follow @CBUMBB on Twitter and Instagram to keep up to date with the season.
