RIVERSIDE – California Baptist University men's basketball kept things rolling at home, with an 84-68 win over Southeast Missouri State in its second-to-last, non-conference game on Tuesday.
Ty Rowell added to the night as he reached the 1,000 career point milestone after he scored a season-high 24 points with six three-pointers on the night to go with six assists and four rebounds.
"Reflecting on my career, I feel like I have just had a great opportunity here," said Rowell during the postgame radio interview tonight. "Coaches giving me such a great opportunity to be on a very competitive team every year I've played here and that's the main thing. Scoring a thousand is something that is really awesome to add on to that, in your career. I'm happy it's been able to all happen at Cal Baptist."
Rowell's six threes tied the program record in the CBU Events Center. It's the second time he's made six threes in a game in the Events Center (after first doing so on Jan. 30, 2021), which makes him the first Lancer to do that twice.
"Ty was tremendous," said CBU head coach Rick Croy. "I've said this many times, but I don't think I can say it enough. He's one of the best competitors I've ever coached. He's such a locked in competitor, teammate, leader. You just know he's going to be ready for whatever his team needs him to do."
CBU improves to 9-3 on the season, while SEMO drops to 5-8. It also keeps the Lancers' win streak at home alive, improving to a perfect 9-0 when playing in front of the Lancer faithful in the Events Center this season.
Rowell was one of four Lancers who scored in double figures on Tuesday. Dan Akin collected his fourth double-double of the season with 17 points, 14 rebounds and two blocks. Chance Hunter added 15 points, eight rebounds and two blocks to nearly secure a double-double of his own. Reed Nottage added 13 points, five assists and three rebounds.
CBU shot 48 percent from the floor (30-62), thanks to its ball movement that produced 22 assists. Defensively, the Lancers held SEMO to 34 percent (22-64) shooting, with the help of five blocks, while also outrebounding the Redhawks by 10 (45-35).
PLAY BY PLAY:
Southeast Missouri State jumped out to a 13-8 lead about five minutes into the game. The Lancers closed out the first half strong and took a 43-34 advantage into halftime.
Rowell jumpstarted CBU as he scored 14 of his 16 points in the final 13 minutes of the half on four three-pointers and two other field goals from inside the arc.
A 12-0 run gave CBU its first sizable lead of the game, 31-20, as Akin cashed in back-to-back buckets while Rowell capped it off with consecutive triples. Akin also put up 11 points in the first 20 minutes of action.
CBU pushed its lead out to 15, 53-38, with 16:44 to play as it opened the second half on a 10-3 run sparked by a three and dunk from Nottage. SEMO managed to cut the deficit down to eight (53-45), but the Lancers grew their lead as high as 19, 75-56, with five-and-a-half minutes remaining and wouldn't let the Redhawks closer than 14 points the rest of the way.
WELCOME TO THE CLUB:
Rowell came into the game 10 points off the 1,000th of his career, and more than got it with the 24-point game. The reigning All-Western Athletic Conference First Teamer and redshirt junior guard now has 1,014 career points is 41 points off moving into the Lancers' all-time, top-23 scorers list. De'jon Davis currently occupies that 23rd spot with 1,054 career points.
UP NEXT:
The Lancers will end the calendar year at home with a game against La Verne on Tuesday, Dec. 28. The contest is set for a 7 p.m. tip-off and is CBU's final non-conference game of the year. Western Athletic Conference play then opens when Seattle U visits the CBU Events Center on Saturday, Jan. 1 at 7 p.m.
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.
