Philly Gym Rat (The Perry “QM” McMullin Story)

[PointGuard]

Yeah, the media is coming down on us for failing to live up to the expectations we created by a strong pre-conference record.

BUT...the Great West Conference of 2015-2016 is far different than what it was of previous years.

[PointGuard]

Game #26; Feb. 14, 2016: TX Pan American Broncos (8-17, 3-9) at CSU Bakersfield Roadrunners (19-6, 7-5)

I’m starting all seniors in our final home game of the year.

We hit 59% of our shots in the first half and ran away to a 49-33 lead at the half. Marcus Evans and Jerell Brown both scored 11 points.

We ran away with the game in the 2nd half.

Final Score: CSU Bakersfield-95, TX Pan American-56. CSU Bakersfield season record: 20-6; Great West record: 8-6 (2nd place).

Scoring leaders: Evans-22, Jrl Brown-18, Calton-10, Saunders-9, Curry-8, Benjamin-8.

Rebound leaders:

Assist leaders: Curry-6, Evans-3, Durham-3.

Player of the Game: Jrl Brown-7, Saunders-6.

Coach’s Pat on the Back Award: SF/SG Marcus Evans-22 pts, Reb-4, Assists-3, Steals-2.

Other notes: We dropped in 62% of our shots, out-rebounded the Broncos 36-24, and had a 16-11 turnover advantage.

[PointGuard]

Game #27; Feb. 17, 2016: #19 CSU Bakersfield Roadrunners (20-6, 8-5) at Utah Valley Wolverines (14-12, 7-6)

We outplayed the Wolverines in the first half, but the refs called 12 fouls against our players giving Utah Valley 9 more trips to the line than us (and 7 more points). That kept the Wolverines in the game. We left the court with a 40-35 lead. Awvee Calton dropped in 10 points for us.

The lead in the 2nd half went back and forth continually. With 50 seconds we had a 72-71 lead and possession of the ball. We called a time out to set up a pick and roll, the Randy Durham and Jerell Brown executed perfectly. Brown hit a 15 foot jumper and was fouled. He made the free throw giving us a 75-71 lead with 41 seconds to play. Marcus Evans intercepted a pass down low and Michael Curry quickly brought the ball up court but was fouled intentionally with 29 seconds to go. Curry sunk both free throws to make it 77-71. Utah Valley sank a 3 pointer from the corner with 17 seconds on the clock making it 77-74. They made a quick foul and Jerell Brown hit both shots to increase our lead to 79-74. Utah Valley made things interesting by hitting another 3 to get them within 2 points with 7 seconds to play. We were able to elude their efforts to foul and get away with a very narrow win.

Final Score: CSU Bakersfield-79, Utah Valley-77. CSU Bakersfield season record: 21-6; Great West record: 9-5 (2nd place).

Scoring leaders: Jr. Brown-22, Calton-17, Evans-13, Curry-8.

Rebound leaders: Saunders-10, Jrl. Brown-5.

Assist leaders: Durham-4, Curry-4, Bryson-3, Jrl. Brown-3.

Player of the Game: SG Jerell Brown-22 pts, 5 reb, 3 assists, 2 steals.

Coach’s Pat on the Back Award: PF Awvee Calton-17 pts, 2 reb, 1 assist, 1 steal, 1 block.

Other notes: Utah Valley’s hot shooting in the 2nd half improved their shooting for the game to 52%. We finished the game by hitting 46% of our FG attempts. The Wolverines also held a 33-26 rebounding advantage. We won the game by forcing Utah Valley to commit 18 turnovers while we made just 5.

We’re now ranked #19 in the Media Poll and #24 in the Coaches Poll. Our RPI is 20.

Seattle is ranked #25 in the Media Poll and still hasn’t cracked the top 25 in the Coaches Poll.

We’re #28 and Seattle is #29 on the “Who’s In” list on the Bubble Watch.

[PointGuard]

Seattle.....................12-2.....22-5.....RPI: 25
CSU Bakersfield.........9-5.....21-6.....RPI: 20
North Dakota..............7-7.....13-14....RPI: 176
Chicago State............7-7......17-10....RPI: 59
Utah Valley................7-7.....14-13.....RPI: 124
New Jersey Tech........6-8......16-11....RPI: 130
Houston Baptist..........5-9.....12-15.....RPI: 226
TX Pan American........3-11.....8-19.....RPI: 315

[PointGuard]

On February 26, we got our first recruit to accept a scholarhip: PG Tremain Jennings, a high school senior from San Diego, CA. More about him later.

[PointGuard]

During our week off we dropped to #22 in the Media Poll and off the charts in the Coaches Poll. Our RPI dropped to 24th best in the nation. Seattle dropped out of the Media Poll. We also dropped to #32 and Seattle dropped to #41 on the Bubble Watch’s “Who’s In” list.

Centers Mark Saunders and Marcelle Pastner got into yet another loud argument during our week of inactivity. Both are good guys and get along well with the rest of the team, but there is just something in their personalities that rubs the other the wrong way. I decide its not worth doing anything about and that they'll regain their focus on basketball when the conference tournament starts.

[PointGuard]

TX Pan American (8-19, 3-11) vs Seattle (222-5, 12-2)—Neither team could pull away in the first half. Seattle held a 34-31 halftime lead. But the 2nd half was all Seattle and they came away with a 71-54 victory. Seattle completely dominated the boards, 47-26. Adam Givens scored 19 points for Seattle and Reginald Houston pulled down 10 rebounds for the Redhawks. Brian Burditt scored 17 for TX Pan American.

New Jersey Tech (16-11, 6-8) vs North Dakota (13-14, 7-7)—North Dakota opened a 12 point lead in the first half and went to the break with a 31-24 advantage. But in the 2nd half, everything went New Jersey Tech’s way as North Dakota went cold shooting. New Jersey Tech pulled away to win easily, 65-53. Darius Williams was New Jersey Tech’s leading scorer with 14 points. Alex Singletary’s 12 points led North Dakota.

Utah Valley (14-13, 7-7) vs Chicago State (17-10, 7-7)—Chicago State broke out on top and never trailed, increasing a 37-22 halftime lead to finish on top, 70-54. Gerald Woods scored 22 and Pat Molicer grabbed 11 rebounds for Chicago State. Utah Valley was led by Rob Bailey’s 13 points.


Game #28; Mar. 1, 2016: Houston Baptist Huskies (12-15, 5-9) vs #22 CSU Bakersfield Roadrunners (21-6, 9-5)

We beat the Huskies by similar scores (76-60 and 74-60) in our two meetings earlier this year. Their leading scorer is SG Aaron Renn with 18.9 ppg.

We used a stout defense in the first half to roll up a 37-22 halftime advantage. We held the Huskies to 32% shooting and forced them to make 8 turnovers. We only turned the ball over one time and we hit 45% of our shots. Our top scorer was Jerell Brown with 13 points.

We expanded our lead to 27 points in the 2nd half and played our entire bench.

Final Score: CSU Bakersfield-77, Houston Baptist-54. CSU Bakersfield season record: 22-6.

Scoring leaders: Jrl Brown-33, Durham-9, Jarmond-8.

Rebound leaders: Jrl Brown-8.

Assist leaders: Durham-5, Evans-4.

Player of the Game: SG Jerell Brown-33 pts, 8 reb, 2 assists, 1 steal.

Coach’s Pat on the Back Award: PF Mitchell Jarmond-8 pts, 3 reb, 1 assist, 1 steal.

Other notes: We knocked down 48% of our shots while holding Houston Baptist to 38%. We had an 18-7 advantage on turnovers. We held Adam Gage to 10 points.

[PointGuard]

Chicago State (18-10, 7-7) vs Seattle (23-5, 12-2)—Chicago State maintained a small lead through most of the 1st half and at the buzzer had a 33-27 advantage. The Cougars gradually extended their lead in the 2nd half and finished with a 60-48 upset victory. Kenny Nelson was Chicago State’s top scorer with 9 points. Pat Mociler pulled down 12 rebounds for the Cougars. Adam Givens scored 19 points for Seattle.


Game #29; Mar. 2, 2016: New Jersey Tech Highlanders (17-11, 6-8) vs #22 CSU Bakersfield Roadrunners (22-6, 9-5)

We beat New Jersey Tech 81-60 and 75-47 during the regular conference season. Darius Williams is scoring 17.1 ppg for the Huskies.

We kept New Jersey Tech from scoring a FG for the first 9-1/2 minutes of play. By that time we had built a 14-3 lead. We hit just 35% of our shots throughout the 1st half. But because we were able to hold the Highlanders to 17% shooting plus forced them to turn the ball over 13 times while we made just 2, we took a 31-13 lead to the locker room. Jerell Brown led all scorers with 10 points.

We eased up in the 2nd half but the game was never close.

Final Score: CSU Bakersfield-66, New Jersey Tech-52. CSU Bakersfield season record: 23-6.

Scoring leaders: Durham-13, Evans-12, Jrl Brown-12, Calton-11, Saunders-10.

Rebound leaders: Saunders-6, Jrl Brown-5.

Assist leaders: Durham-5.

Player of the Game: SG Jerell Brown-12 pts, 5 reb, 2 assists, 3 steals.

Coach’s Pat on the Back Award: PG Randy Durham-13 pts, 1 reb, 5 assists, 2 steals.

Other notes: Neither team shot well in the game: we hit 42% and New Jersey Tech hit 34% of FG attempts. We were out-rebounded 37-28 but held a 21-8 turnover advantage.

[PointGuard]

Game #30; Mar. 3, 2016: #22 CSU Bakersfield Roadrunners (23-6, 9-5) vs Chicago State Cougars (19-10, 7-7)

Chicago State beat us in both games we played earlier this year, 67-50 and 59-57. We’ve been unable to solve their 1-2-2 zone defense.

Again Chicago State’s defense gave us fits. We hit just 30% of our shots (and were 0 for 8 from 3-point distance) and left the floor with a 33-26 deficit. Jerell Brown led our scoring with 8 points. During the break, it was the players who pulled themselves together. I just le them talk among themselves and pump THEMSELVES up.

We turned the tables in the 2nd half, clamping down defensively. We also hit about 50% of our shots and steadily pulled away. We leave the court as Great West Champs with a certainty that we're going to the NCAA Tournament.

Final Score: CSUBakersfield-65, Chicago State-52. CSU Bakersfield season record: 24-6.

Scoring leaders: Jrl Brown-19, Evans-11, Durham-9, Saunders-8.

Rebound leaders: Saunders-11, Jrl. Brown-7, Jsh Brown-6.

Assist leaders: Durham-8.

Player of the Game: SG Jerell Brown-19 pts, 7 reb, 1 assist, 1 steal, 1 block.

Coach’s Pat on the Back Award: C Mark Saunders-8 pts, 11 reb, 1 assist, 1 steal.

Other notes: We raised our shooting to 40% for the game while dropping Chicago State’s to 35%. We out-rebounded the Cougars 38-33 and held an 11-8 turnover advantage.

We’re now #20 in the Media Poll, #24 in the Coaches Poll, and our RPI is 22nd best in the nation.

[PointGuard]

After winning the conference tournament, we got the good news on March 4th that Jerell Brown has been named a finalist for the Norton Award.