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SANTA CLARA, Calif. - Stepping out of conference for the final time this season, Santa Clara won handily over CSU Bakersfield, defeating the Roadrunners by 30 points, 66-36, on Wednesday night in the Leavey Center. Santa Clara is 15-6 and 3-3 in the WCC. CSU Bakersfield is 7-14 overall. Santa Clara plays at San Diego on Sat., Jan. 26 in a 1 pm TWC/Comcast regionally televised game.
The Broncos were led by Marc Trasolini who scored 14 points and tallied 10 rebounds to collect his fifth double-double of the year. Raymond Cowels III scored 11 points, including three threes and four rebounds. Yannick Atanga grabbed five rebounds. Evan Roquemore had nine points, three rebounds and five assists. Kevin Foster scored eight points with two threes, three rebounds and five assists. Julian Clarke added seven points.
The Roadrunners were led by Brandon Barnes, who scored 11 points. Stephon Carter had a team-high five rebounds.
Santa Clara shot 47.9 percent from the field (23 of 48), including 47.4 percent from beyond the arc (9 of 19). They hit 11 of 14 free throws (78.6 percent). The Broncos collected 38 rebounds, 16 assists, six steals, four blocks and had 19 turnovers.
CS Bakersfield shot 31.7 percent from the field (13 of 41), including 14.3 percent from beyond the arc (2 of 14). They hit 8 of 15 free throws (53.3 percent). The Roadrunners collected 18 rebounds, four assists, 11 steals, four blocks and had 17 turnovers.
Robert Garrett backed down a Bakersfield defender for two points in the paint to begin the game at 18:45. Evan Roquemore knocked down two from the charity stripe and the Broncos held a 4-0 lead at 17:04. After a defensive stop, Roquemore found Julian Clarke who knocked down a mid-range jumper forcing a Bakersfield timeout.
Young got Bakersfield on the board with a jumper to cut the Santa Clara lead to 6-2. On their next possession, the Broncos wowed the crowd with an alley-oop from Roquemore to Trasolini.
Following the media timeout, the teams traded defensive stops before Yannick Atanga added two points to extend Santa Clara's lead to 10-2. Following a Bakersfield turnover, Cowels III added a second-chance jumper. Following another turnover, Brandon Clark knocked down a triple from the top of the arc to extend Santa Clara's lead to 15-2 at 11:49.
Adam Young added one free throw for Bakersfield to cut the score to 15-3. After Trasolini hit a jumper, Brandon Barnes struck from downtown for the Roadrunners. Young hit a mid-range jumper to cut the Santa Clara lead to 17-8. Following a Bakersfield turnover, Trasolini added two more inside. At 7:47 in the first half, the Broncos had built a 19-8 lead.
After the media timeout, Trasolini knocked down two from the free throw line. With Bakersfield committing its eighth turnover of the half, Trasolini made good and added a two-handed dunk, his fourth dunk of the game, to extend Santa Clara's lead to 23-8. On the following possession, Foster drove the lane and hit a floater to push the Broncos' lead to 17. After another defensive stop, Roquemore sunk two from the free-throw line. Stephon Carter sunk free throws on two consecutive possessions to cut the Santa clara lead to 27-12. After Niyi Harrison and Barnes traded a free throw each, Raymond Cowels III knocked down a three-pointer to give Santa Clara a 31-13 lead at halftime.
The 13 points are the fewest first half points scored by a SCU opponent since Humboldt St. scored 13 on Dec. 11, 1999. The fewest points an opponent has scored in the first half during the Keating era is 14. Sac State scored 14 in the first half, losing 51-32 on Dec. 6, 2008. A week later Notre Dame de Namur scored 14 in the first half, losing the game 67-47 on Dec. 13, 2008.
In the first half, Santa Clara shot 50.0 percent from the field (11 of 22), including 33.3 percent from beyond the arc (2 of 6). They hit 7 of 8 free throws (87.5 percent). The Broncos collected 18 rebounds, eight assists, steals, two blocks and had 10 turnovers.
Bakersfield shot 17.6 percent from the field (3 of 17), including 14.3 percent from beyond the arc (1 of 7). They hit six of eight free throws (75.0 percent). The Roadrunners collected nine rebounds, one assist, six steals, one block and had 11 turnovers.
The Broncos were led by Trasolini's 10 points. Three Broncos had three rebounds each and Roquemore collected four assists. Adam Young led CSUB with five points. Brandon Barnes collected three rebounds.
To begin the second half, Barnes converted a layup to cut the lead to 31-15. Garrett converted one from the free throw line before Britton Williams hit a jumper.
Up 34-17, the Broncos grabbed two offensive rebounds that allowed Roquemore to nail an open three-pointer. After a Trasolini block, Foster hit a three of his own to extend Santa Clara's lead to 40-17 at 15:25. Foster's three moved him to No. 16 all-time in NCAA history, tying him with Robert Vaden who started at Indiana and finished at UAB in 2009.
Following the media timeout, the teams traded defensive stops before Roquemore hit a fade-away jumper to give the Broncos' a 25-point cushion, 42-17. Erik Kinney added a layup for the Roadrunners and the Broncos led 42-19 at 11:36.
Barnes scored his eighth point of the night for the Roadrunners on a layup at 11:02. The Broncos responded with a second-chance jumper by B. Clark. After forcing a poor shot on defense, Denzel Johnson used a nice cut to score on a layup. Trasolini hit a jumper at 9:05 to increase Santa Clara's lead to 48-23 with roughly nine remaining. After Barnes hit a free throw, J. Clarke hit a three in transition to give Santa Clara a 27-point lead entering the media timeout.
Two Bronco turnovers allowed Bakersfield to cut the lead to 22 before Cowels III knocked own his second triple of the contest. Trevor White responded with a triple that Foster answered. Foster's three, his second of the night, moved him to No. 16 all-time, moving him past Robert Vaden who started at Indiana and finished at UAB in 2009.and scored 379 career threes.
By the 3:40 mark, the Broncos held a commanding 60-32 lead. Fourth-year walk-on Kyle Perricone scored a three at 1:50 to push the Broncos lead to 30, 64-34.
Game Notes
Raymond Cowels III and Marc Trasolini played in their 120th career game tonight. They are now tied at No. 7 with Jens Gordon who played in 120 games from 1985-89.
Kevin Foster started his 108th career game tonight. He moves to No. 3 all-time in career starts in the Bronco record books. He moved to No. 16 all-time in threes made in NCAA Division I history with 380.
Marc Trasolini moved to No. 8 all-time in career rebounds, passing Ken Sears, who had 733 (1951-55). Trasolini now has 737 career rebounds.