After a ferocious first-half start, Cal State Bakersfield held on Tuesday night to defeat host California in the first round of the National Invitational Tournament, 73-66.
Dedrick Basile scored a team-high 18 points, including 16 in the first half, to help the Roadrunners to a commanding 44-19 halftime lead. The second half was a different story for Cal State Bakersfield, which endured a long scoring drought for the first 12 minutes of the second half.
The victory sets up a second-round matchup at Colorado State, which defeated College of Charleston on Tuesday. The exact time and date will be determined Wednesday.
The Roadrunners were seeded No. 8 in the California region, while Cal was a No. 1 seed.
Shon Briggs came up huge for the Roadrunners with 17 points off the bench, and it was needed. Starters Jaylin Airington and Matt Smith combined for eight points.
In the first half, CSUB came out on fire offensively, shooting 50 percent from the field. In the second half, the Roadrunners opened with a nearly four-minute scoring drought and scored just nine points in the first 12 minutes of the half.
Cal had its own problems and shot just 17 percent from the field in the first half, but without two of its top scorers the Golden Bears were facing long odds against the defensive prowess of Bakersfield.
