LAS VEGAS — With two of their best players out of the game, Cal State Bakersfield survived a quadruple overtime challenge by Utah Valley on Friday night to post an 81-80 victory in the semifinals of the Western Athletic Conference Tournament at Orleans Arena.
It was not a pretty game, but it was the first time in WAC history that a tournament game had gone to four overtimes. Neither team could find a shooting rhythm, but CSUB made the key shots, especially from the free throw line, in the final moments of the exhausting game.
The Roadrunners got five points from Damiyne Durham in the final overtime, and a key bucket from Fallou Ndoye to help put the Roadrunners in position to win.
Bakersfield’s Jaylin Airington, Matt Smith and Shon Briggs all fouled out before the fourth overtime period. Airington, who played 49 minutes, scored 22 points before fouling out with 2:07 remaining in the third overtime.
Dedrick Basile scored 18 points for the Roadrunners in a punishing 53 minutes of play.
The Roadrunners rallied from a 49-41 deficit over the last 2-minutes, 40-seconds of the second half to tie the game 52-52, and force overtime.
The Roadrunners won the game despite shooting 29 percent from the field, but they did force the Wolverines into 28 turnovers.
Cal State Bakersfield will play the winner of New Mexico State and University of Missouri, Kansas City semifinal on Saturday night. The winner of the title game will advance to the NCAA tournament next week.
