RIVERSIDE--- The California Baptist University men's basketball team made it back-to-back home wins after defeating the Abilene Christian Wildcats 68-53 in Riverside.
The Lancers, fresh off a wire-to-wire win over Tarleton on Thursday night, have now outscored their last two opponents by 29 points combined and are +34 on the glass in that same span. The win moves CBU to 8-3 at home and evens up their conference record at 3-3.
PLAY-BY-PLAY:
The Wildcats led 4-2 early on in what proved to be their only lead of the ballgame as the Lancers would lead for the remaining 35 minutes of the night. A 9-2 CBU run gave the Lancers early control of the momentum, emphasized by a pair of Blondeau Tchoukuiegno layups.
ACU climbed back in the game by trimming the lead to single digits at 16-14, but the Lancers responded with another 9-2 run, pushing the lead to double digits at 30-20. ACU would close the gap slightly and trailed 32-24 heading into halftime. CBU outshot ACU slightly in the opening frame, shooting 34% compared to 29% for the Wildcats. Dominique Daniels Jr. and Tchoukuiegno led the scoring effort with eight apiece.
The Wildcats opened the second half with two straight field goals, but CBU quickly snuffed out any momentum with a 12-2 run. The run gave the Lancers their largest lead of the ballgame up to that point at 14 and would force ACU to call timeout.
The Wildcats would get the score to within seven with ten minutes to play, but once again, the Lancers would respond swiftly with an 8-3 run, six of which came from Tchoukuiegno. CBU would control the clock and the game from that point forward and would claim the 68-53 victory over the visiting Wildcats.
STATISTICAL NOTABLES:
The Lancer's defense continues to shine bright as they held ACU to season lows in points scored, field goals, and threes made. CBU held the Wildcats to 36% shooting from the floor, and just one made three on 12 attempts. The perimeter defense of CBU has only surrendered seven made triples on 50 attempts over their previous four games.
The rebounding of the Lancers also proved to be a deciding factor in the victory. CBU held a +13 advantage on the glass, outrebounding ACU 43-30. The Lancers came into the matchup as a top 50 team in the country in rebounding margin and added another masterclass to their resume. Five Lancers had at least five rebounds on the night, led by Hunter Goodrick with eight.
Four Lancers found themselves in double figures and would combine to score 64 of the team's 68 points on the night. Daniels Jr. would once again lead the charge with 19 points, followed closely behind by his backcourt mate in Tchoukuiegno with 18. Yvan Ouedraogo chipped in 15 points and six rebounds, while Brantly Stevenson added 12 points.
NEXT: The Lancers will have a week off before facing the Southern Utah Thunderbirds at home on Saturday, January 20, at 5 PM.
