California Baptist University
11-10,4-3WAC
Abilene Christian University
9-13,1-6WAC
CBU Dominates ACU to Sweep the Season Series
1/30/2025 11:12:00 PM | Men's Basketball
RIVERSIDE--- The California Baptist University men's basketball led wire-to-wire for the second straight game as they downed Abilene Christian 83-60 in Riverside on Thursday night.
The win for CBU pushes the Lancers over .500 at 11-10 and likewise puts them at 4-3 in Western Athletic Conference play. The win, for the moment, will put CBU in a tie for third place with Tarleton in the conference standings and drop the Wildcats to the bottom of that list at 1-6 in WAC play.
PLAY-BY-PLAY:
The offensive onslaught by the Lancers came to a head right off the opening tip, with CBU scoring on its first five possessions to begin the game. Abilene Christian would not shy away from the basket themselves as they would keep pace with the Lancer's hot shooting start by keeping the score at a manageable distance. Freshman Bradey Henige would go on a personal 5-0 run to jumpstart a CBU scoring barrage, resulting in the Lancers taking a double-digit lead.
ACU would finally get the deficit below double-figures at the 2:29 mark after a long distance shot found the bottom of the net, but that would be the last time ACU would get close to the home team's total. Dominique Daniels Jr. would fire up the crowd and the Lancer bench with a trio of explosive plays to end the half and help CBU take a commanding 43-26 lead into the locker room. CBU's offensive prowess was reflected in the first-half stats, with the home team shooting a blistering 60% from the field in the first 20 minutes and connecting on nearly 58% of their perimeter shots as well. The Wildcats shooting numbers were respectable but they were unable to stop the Lancers hot hand.
CBU's lead would only increase in the second half as the offensive avalanche continued for the Lancers. The lead ballooned to as many as 29 points in the second half as CBU emptied its bench in the waning minutes of the frame. The Lancer bench shined also, with multiple players contributing to the excellent offensive display off the pine. True freshman Jalen Dollar connected on his first career points on a triple to put the bow on top of the dominating evening for the Lancers. CBU would close out the game 83-60 to pick up its second straight conference victory.
STATISTICAL NOTABLES:
Daniels Jr. was back to his old ways in this one, leading the team in scoring 21 points on eight made shots and giving fans plenty of jaw-dropping highlights. The starting frontcourt of Kendal Coleman and AJ Braun were solid per usual, combining for 25 points on 9-13 shooting and collecting ten rebounds as well. Adam Moussa stuffed the stat sheet with a little bit of everything as he posted six points, six rebounds, and eight assists for the Lancers. Moussa's performance earned him a pair of career milestones as he would cross the 500-rebound and 500-assist threshold in his career.
This game marks the fifth time this season CBU has shot over 50% from the floor and is the third-best overall shooting display of the season at 52%. CBU dominated all three phases of scoring in the victory and would win the rebounding battle for the fourth straight game by a margin of 34-28. A key for the Lancers tonight was to keep its turnovers low as the Wildcats are a top 10 team in the country in forcing turnovers, and they accomplished that with just 12 turnovers compared to 16 for the Wildcats. CBU further helped matters by turning those 16 Wildcat turnovers into 23 points.
NEXT: CBU continues its three-game homestand on Thursday, February 6, as they host the Southern Utah Thunderbirds in Riverside.
