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

[PointGuard]

1. Oklahoma State (14-0)
2. Duke (12-2)
3. Indiana (11-3)
4. Connecticut (12-1)
5. Memphis (12-3)
6. North Carolina (9
7. Arizona (11-2)
8. Syracuse (10-3)
9. Kentucky (10-3)
10. Louisville (9-2)

[PointGuard]

Game #14; Jan. 3, 2017: Utah Valley Wolverines (4-9, 0-0) at CSU Bakersfield Roadrunners (9-4, 0-0)

Utah Valley has no players averaging in double figures in scoring. They’ve lost all of their road games. On paper this game should be a walk-over, but we don’t play these games on paper. We’re focusing on winning the conference championship this year and the guy’s know we have to do that one game at a time.

After Utah Valley scored the first 4 points of the game, we reeled off the next 9. But our defense was porous allowing the Wolverines to get back into the game. Finally Brett Holt took control of our team and poured in most of his first half 16 points in a 3-minute period to give us a double-digit lead. We gave up some of our lead late in the half, but were able to finish the half on top 46-35.

We pulled away to as much as a 26 point lead in the 2nd half, before relaxing to let the Wolverines close the score a bit at the end of the game. Again we played our entire bench.

Final Score: CSU Bakersfield-78, Utah Valley-63. CSU Bakersfield season record: 10-4; Great West record: 1-0 (1st place tie).

Scoring leaders: Holt-20, Jarmond-9, Calton-9, Gilbert-8.

Rebound leaders: Gilbert-10, Benjamin-6, Holt-6.

Assist leaders: Holt-3.

Player of the Game: SG Brett Holt-20 pts, 6 reb, 3 assists, 1 steal.

Coach’s Pat on the Back Award: C Jeff Gilbert-8 pts, 10 reb, 2 assists, 2 blocks.

Other notes: We controlled the boards 40-31 and held a smaller advantage in the other team statistics. SF Jeff Jarmond played a strong game on both ends of the court, scoring 9 points, pulling down 4 rebounds, and getting 2 steals and 2 blocks. Utah State’s PF Sherman Tennell poured in 20 points and his backup, Clint Rush, added 6. The rest of the Wolverines hit just 26% of their shots.

[PointGuard]

Game #15; Jan. 10, 2017: CSU Bakersfield Roadrunners (10-4, 1-0) at TX Pan American Broncos (4-10, 0-1)

The Bronco’s come into this game short-handed with 3 players out with serious injuries and 2 players on academic probation.

We took advantage of the Broncos’ weakened interior and came away with a 54-37 halftime lead, scoring 26 points in the paint. We also made just 1 turnover while forcing TX Pan American to turn the ball over 11 times. Jeff Gilbert and Jerry Yearwood shared high point honors with 11 points apiece.

Our defense was way too soft in the 2nd half, but we were able to maintain a comfortable margin and post our second win in the conference.

Final Score: CSU Bakersfield-89, TX Pan American-74. CSU Bakersfield season record: 11-4; Great West record: 2-0 (1st place tie).

Scoring leaders: Yearwood-17, Holt, 13- Gilbert-13, Calton-12, Saunders-8.

Rebound leaders: Gilbert-10, Calton-7.

Assist leaders: Yearwood-8.

Player of the Game: PG Jerry Yearwood-17 pts, 3 reb, 8 assists, 4 steals.

Coach’s Pat on the Back Award: C Jeff Gilbert-13 pts, 10 reb, 2 assists, 1 block.

Other notes: Even though we hit 46% of our shots, we let the Broncos hit 50% of theirs. They also scored 5 more points from the free throw line. But our 35-28 rebounding advantage, 18-5 turnover advantage, and 44 points in the paint put the game away for us.

[PointGuard]

Game #16; Jan. 10, 2017: CSU Bakersfield Roadrunners (11-4, 2-0) at Houston Baptist Huskies (5-10, 0-2)

Houston Baptist brings the Aaron Renn Show to tonight’s game. Their SG averaged 15.6 ppg as a redshirt freshman, 18.9 ppg the next year, and is averaging 23.3 ppg this year. But he is not a particularly efficient shooter, hitting just 39% of his FG attempts (34% of his 3’s).

We kept opening a small (4-6 point) lead but were never able to pull away and continually allowed the Huskies to draw even. I was frustrated, but I think our entire team was frustrated as well. We controlled the boards 24-18 but turned the ball over 7 times to the Huskies’ 5 turnovers. Both teams hit 39% of their FG attempts. We escaped with a 33-32 halftime lead. Awvee Calton led our scoring with 14 points.

We scored 13 of the first 15 points in the 2nd half to open a 12 point lead. But Houston Baptist didn’t fold. In fact they came storming back to tie the game at 48-48 with 9 minutes to play. We re-opened a 10 point advantage only to see them narrow the gap.

The Huskies hit a 3 with 53 seconds to play to make the score 61-60. They intentionally fouled Jerry Yearwood who sunk both free throws to give us a 63-60 lead with 46 seconds on the clock. Awvee Calton was called for a foul and Houston Baptist hit both shots cutting our lead to 1 with 34 seconds left. They immediately fouled Jerry Yearwood who hit just one of two to make it 64-62 with 30 seconds to go. We played a tenacious defense keeping them from putting up a shot until there were 11 seconds to play. They missed, we rebounded and they again fouled Jerry Yearwood. Again he hit 1 of 2 and we had a 65-62 lead with 7 seconds on the clock. Our full court press kept them from getting up a final shot and we escaped with a hard-fought win.

Final Score: CSU Bakerwfield-65, Houston Baptist-62. CSU Bakersfield season record: 12-4; Great West record: 3-0 (1st place).

Scoring leaders: Calton-17, Yearwood-17, Gilbert-8, Pastner-8.

Rebound leaders: Gilbert-9, Calton-9, Holt-9, Saunders-5.

Assist leaders: Holt-6, Benjamin-3.

Player of the Game: PF Awvee Calton-17 pts, 9 reb, 1 assist.

Coach’s Pat on the Back Award: PG Jerry Yearwood-17 pts, 2 reb, 2 assists.

Other notes: We hit 40% of our FG’s but missed all 8 of the 3’s we shot. Houston Baptist hit 39% (and 50% of their 3’s). We scored 11 more points from the free throw line. We held a 45-34 rebounding advantage but turned the ball over 14 times to the Huskies’ 11 turnovers. We held the Huskies’ Aaron Renn to 14 points.

We opened the conference season by playing the 3 weakest teams, but now have to play the 4 teams that are presently tied for 2nd place in the conference.

[PointGuard]

Game #17; Jan. 13, 2017: Chicago State Cougars (11-5, 2-1) at CSU Bakersfield Roadrunners (12-4, 3-0)

Chicago State employs a 1-2-2 zone defense. They have fairly balanced scoring from their starting lineup.

We slogged through the first half dropping behind by as much as 14 points before rallying late in the half to close the score. Chicago State took a 29-26 lead to the locker room.

We took the lead early in the 2nd half but could never break away.

Final Score: CSU Bakersfield-69, Chicago State-58. CSU Bakersfield season record: 13-4; Great West record: 4-0 (1st place).

Scoring leaders: Gilbert-15, Yearwood-12, Benjamin-10, Saunders-8.

Rebound leaders: Calton-7, Gilbert-6.

Assist leaders: Yearwood-3, Jamone-3.

Player of the Game: C Jeff Gilbert-15 pts, 6 reb, 1 steal, 3 steals.

Coach’s Pat on the Back Award: PG Jerry Yearwood-12 pts, 2 reb, 3 assists, 2 steals.

Other notes: We edged the Cougars in all of the team statistics: 45% to 42% shooting, 29-25 in rebounding, and 17-11 in turnovers.

[PointGuard]

Game #18; Jan. 17, 2017: CSU Bakersfield Roadrunners (13-4, 4-0) at Seattle Redhawks (12-5, 2-2)

This will be a big test for us. Seattle has yet to lose on their home court this year. We will need to crack their 3-2 zone. SG Adam Givens is a big part of their offense. But his 20.0 ppg is offset by his only hitting 35% of his FG attempts and 32% of his 3’s.

Seattle dominated the first half, leading by as much as 16 points. We shot poorly and played sloppily, turning the ball over way too much. We trailed 39-28 at the break.

We picked up our play in the 2nd half but could never make any serious charge.

Final Score: Seattle-73, CSU Bakersfield-62. CSU Bakersfield season record: 13-5; Great West record: 4-1 (1st place).

Scoring leaders: Benjamin-16, Calton-11, Jarmond-11, Holt-9.

Rebound leaders: Gilbert-13, Calton-5, Saunders-5.

Assist leaders: Four players with 2 each.

Player of the Game: Seattle’s SG Adam Givens-24 pts, 7 reb, 2 assists, 3 steals.

Coach’s Pat on the Back Award: PG Lionel Benjamin-16 pts, 2 assists.

Other notes: seattle hit 49% of their FG attempts while we hit just 40% of ours. We had 20 turnovers to Seattle’s 16.

[PointGuard]

Game #19; Jan. 20, 2017: New Jersey Tech Highlanders (9-9, 2-3) at CSU Bakersfield Roadrunners (13-5, 4-1)

We played a strong first half, carving out an advantage on all team statistics. We left the court with a 36-25 lead.

We steadily expanded our lead in the 2nd half to as much as 28 points.

Final Score: CSU Bakersfield-80, New Jersey Tech-55. CSU Bakersfield season record: 14-5; Great West record: 5-1 (1st place).

Scoring leaders: Calton-18, Yearwood-15, Gilbert-14, Holt-8.

Rebound leaders: Calton-8, Gilbert-8, Saunders-5, Jarmond-5.

Assist leaders: Holt-5, Yearwood-3, Gilbert-3.

Player of the Game: PF Awvee Calton-18 pts, 8 reb, 1 assist, 1 steal, 1 block.

Coach’s Pat on the Back Award: C Jeff Gilbert-14 pts, 8 reb, 3 assists, 1 steal, 1 block.

Other notes: We dropped in 57% of our shots to 40% for the Highlanders. We completely controlled the boards, 32-22 and held an 22-14 turnover advantage.

Our RPI is now 18th best in the nation.

[PointGuard]

Game #20; Jan. 24, 2017: CSU Bakersfield Roadrunners (14-5, 5-1) at North Dakota Fighting Sioux (9-10, 4-2)

We came out firing and completely dominated the Fighting Sioux in the 1st half. Our defense stymied North Dakota and we went to the locker room with a 44-24 lead.

We sat on the lead throughout the 2nd half and finished with an easy win.

Final Score: CSU Bakersfield-74, North Dakota-57. CSU Bakersfield season record: 15-5; Great West record: 6-1 (1st place).

Scoring leaders: Holt-12, Saunders-11, Little-10, Cook-8, Calton-8.

Rebound leaders: Saunders-9, Gilbert-8, Calton-7, Jarmond-6.

Assist leaders: Benjamin-4, Holt-3.

Player of the Game: SG Brett Holt-12 pts, 2 reb, 3 assist, 3 steals.

Coach’s Pat on the Back Award: C Mark Saunders-11 pts, 9 reb, 1 assist, 1 steal.

Other notes: The Fighting Sioux won the battle of the boards 41-34, but we had a 21-10 turnover advantage and also outshot North Dakota 44% to 33%.

Mark Saunders and Marcelle Pastner got into another argument following a heavy practice session between games.

[PointGuard]

Game #21; Jan. 27, 2017: CSU Bakersfield Roadrunners (15-5, 6-1) at Utah Valley Wolverines (8-12, 4-3)

Since losing its conference opener to us, Utah Valley has won 4 of its last 6 games.

Neither team could break away in the 1st half. There were 12 lead changes. We turned the ball over 13 times and trailed at the half, 34-32. Brett Holt led our scoring with 8 points.

We took the lead early in the 2nd half, but the game was close until we took at 63-55 lead. But Utah Valley scored the next 8 points to tie the game 63-63 with 50 seconds to play. Mitchell Jarmond was fouled and hit both free throws with 21 seconds left to give us a 65-63 lead. With 9 seconds to go, Jerry Yearwood fouled out and the Wolverines knocked down both free throws to tie the game. We tossed up a 3 at the buzzer but it rimmed out.

OT: The refs continually called fouls during the OT, making the overtime a farce, but fortunately we got the most of the slew of free throws and won easily.

Final Score: CSU Bakersfield-87, Utah Valley-75 (OT). CSU Bakersfield season record: 16-5; Great West record: 7-1 (1st place).

Scoring leaders: Holt-37, Benjamin-12, Calton-11, Gilbert-10, Saunders-8.

Rebound leaders: Gilbert-16, Holt-5.

Assist leaders: Benjamin-4, Little-3, Yearwood-3.

Player of the Game: SG Brett Holt-37 pts, 5 reb, 2 assists, 3 steals.

Coach’s Pat on the Back Award: C Jeff Gilbert-10 pts, 16 reb, 2 steals.

Other notes: We were awarded 52 free throws and hit on 41 of them. The Wolverine’s coach accused me of employing my family as refs.

SG Brett Holt won the Great West Player of the Week Award.

[PointGuard]

Game #22; Jan. 31, 2017: TX Pan American Broncos (6-15, 2-6) at CSU Bakersfield Roadrunners (16-5, 7-1)

As was the case the first time we played the Bronco’s, they still are short-handed. Three of their players have serious injuries and two players are on academic probation giving them little depth inside.

We played two nearly equal halves, ending the first half up by 12 points, 45-33 then doubling that advantage in the 2nd half before letting the Broncos shave some of that lead in the final few minutes.

Final Score: CSU Bakersfield-87, TX Pan American-68. CSU Bakersfield season record: 17-5; Great West record: 8-1 (1st place).

Scoring leaders: Yearwood-20, Benjamin-14, Saunders-12, Gilbert-10, Calton-10.

Rebound leaders: [/] Holt-6, Gilbert-5, Calton-5, Saunders-5, Pastner-5.

[I]Assist leaders: Jarmond-7, Holt-5.

Player of the Game: PG Jerry Yearwood-20 pts, 1 reb, 2 assists.

Coach’s Pat on the Back Award: PG Lionel Benjamin-14 pts, 3 reb, 1 assist.

Other notes: We out-rebounded TX Pan American 35-21 and forced the Broncos to make 15 turnovers while making just 9 ourselves. But we absolutely WON this game by scoring 52 points in the paint.