In the Twilight Zone that was Acker Gym Friday night, the No. 13 ranked (NCAA Division II) Cal State Bakersfield men’s basketball team pulled a win out of another dimension, coming from behind to defeat Chico State 79-78.
Chico simply out-played the Roadrunners for most of the second half, but could not finish the upset.
Senior guard Ramel Curry knocked down his fourth three-pointer of the game with three seconds remaining to give the ‘Runners the win. But the unbelievable part of the comeback started two minutes earlier.
CSUB trailed 73-66 with 2:32 remaining when put on a 9-0 run over just 37 seconds to turn a seven-point deficit into a 75-73 lead. Senior center Dock Ellis started the run with its biggest play. Ellis made one freethrow then, after missing the second, slipped behind the rebounder, stole the ball and laid it in to trim the deficit to four points.
With the score tied at 76-76, the most bizarre play of the night took place. Following a Chico timeout, the Wildcats inbounded the ball. CSUB had six players on the court as the ball came inbounds, but Billy Speer recognized the mistake and slipped off the court before the officials detected the error.
With the Chico coaches protesting, Jon Henderson drew a foul and hit a pair of freethrows to put the Wildcats ahead 78-76. Charles missed a short jumper, but with the clock winding down, junior swingman Brad Fields tracked down the rebound and found Curry alone in the corner. The rest, as they say, is history.
Curry finished with a career-high 25 points. It was his fourth consecutive game of 20+ points. Ellis added 10 points and a team-high seven rebounds.
Runner@csubak.edu