RIVERSIDE, Calif. – California Baptist stepped out of Western Athletic Conference play and cruised to its fourth consecutive win with a 115-65 victory against Bethesda at the CBU Events Center on Tuesday night.
Six players scored in double-figures for the Lancers. Junior
Jeremy Smith set a new career-high with 20 points, along with three rebounds and three steals. Senior
Jordan Heading finished with 20 points. Junior
De'jon Davis posted his sixth double-double of the season and fourth in six games with 11 points and 14 rebounds. Sophomore
Ty Rowell added 16 points on 4-of-4 shooting from three-point range. Freshman
Glenn Morison tallied a career-high 12 points while pulling down six boards. Sophomore
Milan Acquaah, the leading scorer in the WAC with 21.2 ppg, was limited to 10 points, three rebounds and three assists in 17 minutes of action.
Bethesda used an early 12-2 run to take a 17-12 lead with 13:15 remaining in the first half. The Lancers responded in a big way, going on a 21-0 run over the next five minutes to take over the game with a 33-17 advantage with 8:16 on the clock. CBU outpaced the Flames 47-15 over the final 13 minutes. As time expired, Rowell hit a three pointer to put the Lancers up by 27 to give CBU a 59-32 lead at halftime.
CBU continued to pour it on in the second half, using a 19-0 run to push the lead to 87-42 with 10:41 remaining. The Lancers went on to outscore Bethesda 56-33 in in the second half for a final score of 115-65. It's the most points scored in a game by the program since the last time Bethesda visited campus on Dec. 15, 2015 when the Lancers won 118-62 in the Van Dyne Gym.
Mehran Nazarian scored a team-high 18 points along with three rebounds and two assists for Bethesda. The Flames are a Division I member of the National Christian College Athletic Association (NCCAA). Tonight's contest was officially an exhibition game for them, but it counted toward CBU's record.
The Lancers (14-10; 5-5 WAC) will have a rare weekend off at this stage of the season before playing at Grand Canyon in nine days on Feb. 21. CBU has four of its six remaining regular season league games away from home where it has found success this season. The Lancers picked up their sixth true road win of the season at Seattle U on Feb. 2 that made them, at the time, one of only 33 teams in NCAA Division I with six or more road wins. CBU has not played on the road since that contest. As of games played through Feb. 11, CBU is now one of only 59 teams with six or more road wins in DI this season.
