UC Merced men’s basketball can’t keep pace with Sunbirds

Fresno Pacific is the model UC Merced is hoping to one day follow.

The Sunbirds went up to Division II in 2012, and two years later the men’s basketball team is under scholarship. The Bobcats are navigating a similar path, but still have a number of years before full rides are a reality.

The gulf in class was evident Tuesday night at Hostetler Court. Fresno Pacific (2-1) turned it on in the second half, scoring 63 points en route to a 115-63 victory over a short-handed UCM. The 115 points are the second-most surrendered in school history.

“I was pleased with the first half,” Bobcats coach John Sykes said. “I thought we really competed. I’m not sure what happened in the second half. I was really disappointed in the effort, especially on the defensive end.

“It hurt not having two of our better defenders in Ryan (Edwards) and Reggie (Nelson) in there, but we have to figure something out defensively, because that obviously isn’t going to cut it.”

Things started promisingly enough with a young UC Merced (0-7) lineup attacking the Fresno Pacific basket.

Freshmen guards Christian Chapman (eight points, four assists), Joshua Kimble (14 points) and senior forward Kevin Ellsworth (team-high 15 points, eight rebounds) all had eight points at the half.

The problem for Sykes’ squad was defending the perimeter. The Sunbirds made 10 of their 17 3-point shots in the first half, led by five from Daveon Gibson (game-high 24 points), to take a 52-38 halftime lead.

In what’s becoming a trend, Merced went ice cold to open the second half. The Bobcats missed their first eight shots as Fresno Pacific broke open the game with a 13-3 run.

Things only got moderately better from there as Sykes’ squad shot 7 of 30 after the break.

Fresno Pacific used all those misses and a 56-26 rebounding edge to get its transition game going.

The Sunbirds ran the Bobcats out of their gym in the second half with more than half of their 24 buckets coming on odd-man rushes.

“The first half was encouraging, but it’s like halftime kills us,” Ellsworth said. “We were missing some key guys, and we got exposed in the second half.

“We’ve got a number of young guys contributing, so there’s going to be some rough patches, but we have to find a way to turn in a complete performance in both halves.”

This story was originally published November 19, 2014 at 8:39 PM with the headline "UC Merced men’s basketball can’t keep pace with Sunbirds."