UC Merced sweeps Pacific Union in basketball
Kevin Pham knew he had scorers.
Points weren’t a problem for the UC Merced men’s basketball team last season. It was preventing them that proved a challenge.
The first-year men’s coach knew if he could get the players to buy into the defensive schemes that Pham used to help propel the women’s team to the first California Pacific Conference title in school history, then the Bobcats would compete. It appears Pham’s message has hit home.
Merced entered Thursday night’s conference opener with Pacific Union ranked fifth in the nation by yielding 63.78 points per game. The Bobcats did nothing to hurt the cause at Hostetler Court on Thursday, never trailing in the second half of a 76-64 victory over the Pioneers.
The win marked the first time in school history that UCM (5-5) is 1-0 to start Cal Pac play and extended the team’s winning streak to four, the second longest run in school history.
“PUC is a very explosive team, capable of putting lots of points on the board,” Pham said. “They average 77 points per game, so we knew we had our hands full coming in and had to play good, sound team defense.
“We figured it would be a game of runs. Both teams were going to put together some good spurts. We just needed to limit the damage and keep our composure for when we got the chance to answer.”
The momentum of three straight wins carried into Thursday night as UC Merced came out firing threes.
Branson Garcia (13 points), Michael Pierick (14) and Reggie Nelson (game-high 16 points) all hit from beyond the arc in the opening five minutes as the Bobcats raced out to a 13-4 lead. Merced didn’t really slow down from there, burying 8 of 14 three-pointers in the opening half and 10 total in the game.
“It was pretty much the perfect start,” Nelson said. “We got out to our shooters early and everyone was knocking them down.”
As Pham predicted, the Pioneers (4-5, 0-1) answered with a big run.
Pacific Union’s 1-2 interior punch of Andrew Rice (11 points) and Chris Dorsey (14 points, eight rebounds) went to work in the post. The tandem sparked a 16-2 run as the Pioneers took a 25-18 with 8:38 to go in the half.
The frontcourt quartet of Aaron Laflin, Matt Laflin, Ryan Edwards and Rob Chappelle regrouped and quieted PUC’s big men for the rest of the half, allowing Merced to counter with its own big run. Joshua Kimble, Pierick and Nelson hit threes in consecutive trips down the court, and the Bobcats went back in front for good, holding the lead for the game’s last 26 minutes, 58 seconds.
“We’ve learned from our experiences against Southern Oregon and William Jessup, teams with dominant big men,” Pham said. “If they’re going to get their points, they’re going to have to earn them. The biggest thing is making them receive the ball as far from the basket as possible, and I thought our guys did a good job with that.”
Women
UC Merced 71, Pacific Union 33 in Merced – Courtney Danna (game-high 15 points), Shelby Howard (14), Jecenia Trinidad (14) and Mia Shannon (11, team-high 12 rebounds) helped the Bobcats (2-12, 1-0 Cal Pac) build a dominating 48-19 lead and cruise to a win over the Pioneers.
UCM had 18 steals in the game, led by Trinidad’s eight.
This story was originally published January 8, 2016 at 2:06 PM with the headline "UC Merced sweeps Pacific Union in basketball."