Laflin brothers help UC Merced lock up Cal Pac basketball tourney spot
On a night when the UC Merced men’s basketball team honored its seniors, the underclassmen stole the show.
Freshman Matt Laflin couldn’t miss Saturday, making seven three-pointers for a game-high 21 points and eight rebounds off the bench. His twin brother, Aaron, had 17 points and six rebounds. Sophomore guard Joshua Kimble had 14 points as the Bobcats pulled away from Embry-Riddle in the second half for an 83-73 victory at Hostetler Court.
UC Merced (9-13, 5-7) secured the fourth and final spot in the California Pacific Conference tournament with one game to play.
Senior guard Reggie Nelson just missed a triple double in his final home game, finishing with 12 points, eight rebounds and eight assists.
The Bobcats could have used a mulligan on Sunday as they followed up the win with a 71-46 rout by Cal Maritime. UC Merced has a little time to regroup, as it will get a rematch with the top-seeded Keelhaulers in the first round of the Cal Pac Tournament.
Porterville 91, Merced College 79 in Porterville – Anthony Nolen closed a sensational freshman season by scoring 30 points, and Jose Gonzalez had 20, but the Blue Devils (2-23) finished Central Valley Conference play 0-12.
Jonathan Chairez had 10 points and nine rebounds for Merced.
Women’s basketball
Merced College 64, Porterville 53 in Porterville – TaJaheray McMahan hit five three-pointers en route to a game-high 24 points. The freshman had a team-high 11 rebounds as the Lady Devils closed the regular season with a win.
Merced (16-12, 8-4 CVC) tied for second place with Sequoias and West Hills. The Lady Devils split their two-game season series with both teams and await their seeding in the Northern California tournament.
UC Merced 69, Cal Maritime 64 in Vallejo – Courtney Danna (14 pointa) broke a tie by drilling a three-pointer with 45 seconds left as the Bobcats completed an undefeated Cal Pac regular season with a tough road win Sunday.
Shelby Howard led Merced (9-14, 8-0 Cal Pac) with 20 points, and Mia Shannon had 10 points and 11 rebounds.
Baseball
Cypress 15, Merced College 3 in Cypress – The Blue Devils’ Ryan Sanchez had his first rough outing of the season, yielding seven runs and 10 hits in six innings.
Dalton Beatty went 3 for 4 for Merced (2-6), which finished its Southern California trip 1-2.
This story was originally published February 21, 2016 at 4:52 PM with the headline "Laflin brothers help UC Merced lock up Cal Pac basketball tourney spot."