Big 1st half lifts Bakersfield over Cal 73-66 in NIT

Mar 15, 2017, 01:51 am

BERKELEY, Calif. -- Dedrick Basile scored 16 points of his 18 points in the first half when CSU Bakersfield was almost flawless and the Roadrunners held on to defeat short-handed California 73-66 in the first round of the NIT on Tuesday night.

The Roadrunners, participating in their first NIT, play at Colorado State in the second round.

The eighth-seeded Roadrunners (23-9) blitzed the Bears in the first half, making 8 of 13 3-pointers and shooting 50 percent overall to open a 44-19 lead. The Bears made just 4 of 24 shots from the field (17 percent). Basile, who reached 16 points before top-seeded Cal, and Damiyne Durham both had four 3s.

Cal (21-13) was without its top two scorers. Jabari Bird suffered a concussion in the Pac-12 Tournament and Ivan Rabb was out with a reported foot injury. The Bears cut the margin to eight on a 3-pointer by Grant Mullins with 2:07 to play and got within six with 7.2 seconds left.

Bakersfield's last basket came on a 3-point play by Brent Wrapp with 4:23 to play that made it 63-47 but the Roadrunners made just 10 of 18 free throws after that.

Shon Briggs had 17 points for the Roadrunners, who were 1 of 8 from distance in the second half and shot 30 percent.

Don Coleman had 23 of his career-high 26 points in the second half for Cal.