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

[PointGuard]

So how are the Roadrunner Five (last year's graduating seniors) doing in the pros this year?

It's been a tough adjustment for each of the five. None are getting as much playing time as they'd like, but the competition is stiff. Jerell Brown is the only one with a contract with an NBA team (Chicago Bulls), but he's been sent down to the Sioux City DBL team. The others have DBL contracts with the Bakersfield DBL team. Here is how they are fairing thus far:

[PointGuard]

Game #23; Feb. 3, 2017: Houston Baptist Huskies (5-17, 0-9) at CSU Bakersfield Roadrunners (17-5, 8-1)

Houston Baptist’s SG Aaron Renn continues to score a lot of points (20.9 ppg) but the team has not only lost all of their conference games but now has an 11 game losing streak. Realizing that his might make my guys feel that they have this game in the bag, I remind the team not to overlook the Huskies and go all out to win.

We hit 4 of our first 6 shots, but Aaron Renn hit 3 of 5 shots (even though we were double teaming him) in the first 5 minutes to score all of the Huskies points and keep our lead to 10-7. Houston Baptis out-rebounded us 14-9 but we won the turnover battle 10-5 plus hit 62% of our shots. Unfortunately we let the Huskies shoot well also as they hit 48% of their shots. We came out of the half with a 44-38 lead. Awvee Calton had 11 points for us, but Aaron Renn scored 12 for Houston Baptist. During the intermission I jumped all over my guys to get tough on the boards and to make the Huskies take tough shots.

In the second half our offense continued to sizzle and our defense clamped down on the Huskies. We also pulled down a few more rebounds than they did. We continually expanded our lead and were never threatened.

Final Score: CSU Bakersfield-81, Houston Baptist-62. CSU Bakersfield season record: 18-5; Great West record: 9-1 (1st place).

Scoring leaders: Holt-22, Calton-17, Yeager-10, Gilbert-9.

Rebound leaders: Gilbert-7, Jarmond-6, Calton-5, Yearwood-5.

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

Player of the Game: SG Brett Holt-22 pts, 4 reb, 3 assists, 1 steal.

Coach’s Pat on the Back Award: PF Awvee Calton-17 pts, 5 reb, 1 block.

Other notes: We hit 54% of our shots while holding the Huskies to 36% from the field. We nearly matched them in rebounds, but came up a little short, 34-32. We forced 16 turnovers and made just 10. We scored 44 points in the paint. We got Aaron Renn under control in the 2nd half, but he still finished with 18 points. But we contained everyone else.

Our RPI rose to 12th best in the nation. Seattle is also 19-5 and has the 37th best RPI in the country.

We finally got ranked in the polls, coming in as #23.

[PointGuard]

Game #24; Feb. 7, 2017: #23 CSU Bakersfield Roadrunners (18-5, 9-1) at Chicago State Cougars (14-9, 5-5)

We go up against the Cougars’ 1-2-2 zone defense tonight. After posting a good pre-conference record, the Cougars have lost all their games on the road against conference opponents and won all their home games within the conference. Most of their scoring from their starters comes from their two big men, C Pat Mociler (8.4 ppg) and PF Doug Moore (10.7 ppg).

We kept up with the Cougars for the first 7 minutes of the first half but then simply fell apart. We hit just 31% of our shots, got out-rebounded 18-14, and let Chicago State hit 46% of their FG attempts (and 57% of their 3’s) while the refs put the Cougars on the line 10 times (they converted 9 of those attempts) and us to the line zero times. We limped off the court with a 40-20 halftime deficit. Jerry Yearwood and Brett Holt each scored 5 points for us. The Cougars two big men scored a combined 18 points, hitting 6 of 8 from the field and 6 of 8 from the free throw line.

By playing rock-solid defense, we cut their lead to 12 with 12-1/2 minutes to go and then to 9 with 9 minutes to play. We reduced their lead to 6 with 3 minutes to play, but our poor shooting prevented us from catching up.

Final Score: Chicago State-60, CSU Bakersfield-51. CSU Bakersfield season record: 18-6; Great West record: 9-2 (1st place tie).

Scoring leaders: Holt-10, Calton-9, Gilbert-9, Yearwood-8.

Rebound leaders: Gilbert-11, Jarmond-5.

Assist leaders: Yearwood-3.

Player of the Game: Chicago State’s PF Doug Moore-19 pts, 2 reb, 2 blocks.

Coach’s Pat on the Back Award: C Jeff Gilbert-9 pts, 11 reb, 1 assist,1 block.

Other notes: The reason we lost was our inability to get the ball in the hole…we hit just 30% of our shots. Our two starting guards were 6 for 32 from the field. End of story.

[PointGuard]

Game #26; Feb. 14, 2017: #21 CSU Bakersfield Roadrunners (19-6, 10-2) at New Jersey Tech Highlanders (13-12, 6-6)

New Jersey has had a so-so year but they are a dangerous team when they show up to play.

11 minutes into the game we had a 19-6 lead due to a stellar defense. The refs then decided to help the Highlanders out and piled foul after foul on us, but our offense kicked in gear and we moved out to a 31-12 lead with 4:20 to play in the half. At that point New Jersey Tech had hit just 2 of 19 shots from the field. We went to the locker room with a 40-22 advantage. We forced the Highlanders to turn the ball over 10 times and held their shooting to 24%. Ten of their 22 points came on free throws. Brett Holt scored 11 points to lead us offensively.

Our defense softened somewhat in the 2nd half but we played well enough to expand our lead even though we were playing our bench extensively. Our entire team played great!

Final Score: CSU Bakersfield-78, New Jersey Tech-52. CSU Bakersfield season record: 20-6; Great West record: 11-2 (1st place).

Scoring leaders: Gilbert-18, Holt-17, Saunders-10.

Rebound leaders: Gilbert-14, Holt-5.

Assist leaders: Holt-9, Yearwood-5, Gilbert-3.

Player of the Game: C Jeff Gilbert-18 pts, 14 reb, 3 assists, 1 steal, 2 blocks.

Coach’s Pat on the Back Award: SG Brett Holt-17 pts, 5 reb, 9 assists, 4 steals.

Other notes: We hit 50% of our shots. We held a 36-30 rebounding advantage and were +7 in turnovers (15 vs 8). We scored 42 points in the paint. Our reserved chipped in 29 points.

SF/PF Mitchell Jarmond broke his finger during the game and will miss the remainder of the year. I’m going to start Mike Dotson at the 3 even though Dotson is primarily a PF since the backup SF’s (Tyson Morris and Jermaine Vershaw) have not yet shown any ability to make an impact.

Seattle also won its 20th game of the season tonight and remains one game behind of us in conference play.

[PointGuard]

Game #27; Feb. 17, 2017: North Dakota Fighting Sioux (13-13, 8-5) at #21 CSU Bakersfield Roadrunners (20-6, 11-2)

North Dakota has played surprisingly well in the Great West. Picked to finish last, they are safely in 3rd place in the conference. We beat them handily 74-54 earlier this year, but the only team in the conference that has been able to beat them twice thus far is Seattle. SF Lannce Gourde is their top scorer with 13.0 ppg. They employ a 2-3 zone defense.

We jumped out to a quick lead, then North Dakota made a run that brought them within one point midway through the first half. We again asserted ourselves and left the court with a 35-26 lead. Brett Holt was our leading scorer with 10 points. Jeff Gilbert pulled down 10 rebounds in the half.

We held a double digit lead throughout the second half, but we could never truly put the Fighting Sioux away.

Final Score: CSU Bakersfield-67, North Dakota-55. CSU Bakersfield season record: 21-6; Great West record: 12-2 (1st place).

Scoring leaders: Holt-17, Gilbert-8, Saunders-8.

Rebound leaders: Gilbert-16, Calton-5.

Assist leaders: Yearwood-3, Holt-3, Cook-3.

Player of the Game: SG Brett Holt-17 pts, 2 reb, 3 assists.

Coach’s Pat on the Back Award: C Jeff Gilbert-8 pts, 16 reb, 3 assists, 1 steal, 1 block.

Other notes: We played a rather lackluster game, playing just well enough to win. We held a 40% to 38% advantage in shooting from the field. North Dakota out-rebounded us 40-35. We held a 19-15 turnover advantage. Uncharacteristically we were outscored in the paint, 24-22.

We won the Great West conference championship.

We moved up to #19 in the Media Poll and #21 in the Coaches Poll. Our RPI is 13th best in the country.

In the Bubble Watch, we are #30 on the Who’s In list and Seattle is #12 in the Who’s Out list.

[PointGuard]

CSU Bakersfield.................12-2.....21-6......RPI:13
Seattle................................10-4.....20-7......RPI: 37
North Dakota.........................8-6....13-14.....RPI: 156
Utah Valley............................7-7....11-16.....RPI: 287
New Jersey Tech....................7-7....14-13.....RPI: 158
Chicago State........................7-7....16-11.....RPI: 93
TX Pan American...................3-11.....7-20.....RPI: 328
Houston Baptist....................2-12.....7-20.....RPI: 341

During our week off between the end of regular season play and our conference tournament, we moved up to #19 in the Media Poll

[PointGuard]

Here's the latest update (through games of Feb. 28, 2017) on the 5 Roadrunner players from last year's squad that are trying to move up from the DBL to the NBA:

[PointGuard]

New Jersey Tech (14-13, 7-7) vs Utah Valley (11-16, 7-7)—[The game was Utah Valley’s the entire way. They built a 27 point lead and finished the first half ahead 45-25. They then coasted to an easy win by hitting 53% of their shots and dominating the boards 31-22. Maurice Crumble’s 12 points led Utah Valley. Terrell Davis scored 21 points for New Jersey Tech. Final Score: Utah Valley-83, New Jersey Tech-72.]

Chicago State (16-11, 7-7) vs North Dakota (13-14, 8-6)—[North Dakota jumped out to the lead and never looked back. They built a 40-26 halftime lead. Chicago State chipped away at their lead in the 2nd half, but couldn’t overtake the Fighting Sioux, in great part to the fact that the Cougars hit only 33% of their shots. Lannce Gourd topped North Dakota’s scoring with 16 points. Scott Smith was the leading scorer for Chicago State with 10 points. Final Score: North Dakota-56, Chicago State-45.]

TX Pan American (7-20, 3-11) vs Seattle (20-7, 10-4)—Seattle applied a solid defense to win a surprisingly close game. Seattle’s halftime lead was 32-27. Although the Broncos won the rebounding battle 36-28, the Redhawks’ tough defense held the Broncos’ shooting to 32% and forced 14 turnovers. Adam Givens scored 25 for Seattle. TX Pan American was led by Corey Cambridge’s 14 points. Final Score: Seattle-65, TX Pan American-56.]

Game #28; Mar. 1, 2017: Houston Baptist Huskies (7-20, 2-12) vs #19 CSU Bakersfield Roadrunners (21-6, 12-2)

We take on Aaron Renn (20.4 ppg) and his Houston Baptist Huskies for the 3rd time. We escaped with a 65-62 victory in their gym and won 81-62 in ours.

Brett Holt picked up his 2nd foul less than 5 minutes into the game, but we didn’t allow the Huskies to score for the first 10 minutes, 10 seconds of the game, carving out an 18-0 lead. Houston Baptist his 4 three-pointers late in the half but we still had a 37-21 lead at the intermission. Our defense allowed the Huskies to hit just 22% of their shots plus we forced 11 turnovers. We dropped in 48% of our shots. Jerry Yearwood and Jeff Gilbert shared high point honors with 8 each.

We cruised in the 2nd half to a lop-sided win.

Final Score: CSU Bakersfield-81, Houston Baptist-56. CSU Bakersfield season record: 22-6.

Scoring leaders: Calton-18, Gilbert-14, Yearwood-14, Holt-11

Rebound leaders: Gilbert-8, Calton-5, Yearwood-5.

Assist leaders: Yearwood-5.

Player of the Game: C Jeff Gilbert-14 pts, 8 reb, 2 steals, 3 blocks.

Coach’s Pat on the Back Award: PG Jerry Yearwood-14 pts, 5 reb, 5 assists, 1 block.

Other notes: We hit 48% of our FG attempts, Houston Baptist made 37% of theirs. We out-rebounded the Huskies 34-26. We held a 20-11 turnover advantage. We scored 38 points in the paint. We held Aaron Renn to 14 points on 6 of 24 shooting.

[PointGuard]

North Dakota (14-14, 8-6) vs Seattle (21-7, 10-4)—[The lead in the first half went back and forth with North Dakota coming away with a 33-32 lead at the break. But Adam Givens took control in the 2nd half and led the Redhawks to double-digit win. North Dakota completely dominated on the boards 47-28 but Seattle had a 17-6 turnover advantage. Adam Givens hit 8 of 15 from three point distance and scored 35 for Seattle. Lannce Gourd led North Dakota’s scoring with 16 points and Corey Delk pulled down 10 rebounds. Final Score: Seattle-74, North Dakota-64.]

Game #29; Mar. 2, 2017: Utah Valley Wolverines(12-16, 7-7) vs CSU Bakersfield Roadrunners (22-6, 12-2)

We beat Utah Valley by 15 and 19 points in our earlier games this year.

The crowd was definitely cheering for Utah Valley, stimulating the Wolverines to stay close to us in the early portion of the first half. But our defense stymied Utah Valley and we gradually crept away. Utah Valley was only able to hit 30% of their shots. We also controlled the boards 23-14 and had an 8-6 turnover advantage. At the buzzer we were ahead 35-19. Awvee Calton led the way for us with 10 points and 6 rebounds.

We held onto a comfortable lead throughout the 2nd half to make our way to the tournament championship game.

Final Score: CSU Bakersfield-73, Utah Valley-54. CSU Bakersfield season record: 23-6.

Scoring leaders: Calton-16, Pastner-13, Benjamin-12.

Rebound leaders: Calton-8, Holt-6, Dotson-6, Gilbert-5.

Assist leaders: Yearwood-3, Gilbert-3.

Player of the Game: PF Awvee Calton-16 pts, 8 reb, 1 assist, 1 steal, 1 block.

Coach’s Pat on the Back Award: PG Lionel Benjamin-12 pts, 3 reb.

Other notes: We held the advantage in all team statistics: FG’s, 46% to 39%; FT’s, 74% to 71%; Three pointers, 80% to 25%; Rebounds, 38-26; Turnovers, 17-14. SF Maurice Crumble led Utah Valley’s scoring with 13 points.

[PointGuard]

Game #30; Mar. 3, 2017: Seattle Redhawks (22-7, 10-4) vs CSU Bakersfield Roadrunners (23-6, 12-2)

This is the rubber game of the 3 games we play against Seattle this year. They won in Seattle 73-62 and we won in Bakersfield 73-45. Adam Givens is on a tear in this tournament, scoring 60 points in the first two games to up his season average to 20.7 ppg.

The first half was a tail of two halves of a half. In the early portion of the half we gradually built a 10 point lead in workman-like fashion. Then Seattle began hitting their shots and, led by Adam Givens 13 points, took a one point lead before Jerry Yearwood tossed in a 3 pointer at the buzzer to give us a 34-32 halftime advantage. The Redhawks out-rebounded us 20-12 while we forced them to make 12 turnovers to just 5 for us. Brett Holt led our scoring with 8 points but picked up 3 fouls trying to guard Adam Givens.

Led by Awvee Calton, we again built a big lead in the early part of the 2nd half, only to let it slip away. Seattle cut our lead to 4 points with 40 seconds to go but we were able to hold them off for a narrow victory.

Final Score: CSU Bakersfield-61, Seattle-58. CSU Bakersfield season record: 24-6.

Scoring leaders: Calton-15, Holt-12, Benjamin-10.

Rebound leaders: Calton-8, Gilbert-7.

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

Player of the Game: PF Awvee Calton-15 pts, 8 reb, 2 steals.

Coach’s Pat on the Back Award: SG Brett Holt-12 pts, 1 reb, 2 assists, 5 steals, 1 block.

Other notes: Adam Givens scored 26 points, hitting 9 of 17 from the field (and 5 of 10 from beyond the arc). He had a tremendous tournament, scoring 86 points in the 3 games (28.7 ppg). We got lambasted on the boards 42-27. But we forced Seattle to turn the ball over 25 times.

So it’s on to the Big Dance for us. Unfortunately, even though Seattle has had a great year, they won’t be joining us since it would take a miracle for 2 teams from this conference to get selected. Hopefully the Redhawks get into the NIT and Adam Givens is given a chance to furthere showcase his talents.

We advance to #15 in the Media Poll and #17 in the Coaches Poll. Our RPI is now 11th best in the nation.