{"id":2792,"date":"2025-03-07T14:41:29","date_gmt":"2025-03-08T00:41:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/warriorinsider.net\/?p=2792"},"modified":"2025-03-07T17:01:52","modified_gmt":"2025-03-08T03:01:52","slug":"cs-bakersfield-overtakes-warriors-76-64","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/warriorinsider.net\/index.php\/2025\/03\/07\/cs-bakersfield-overtakes-warriors-76-64\/","title":{"rendered":"CS Bakersfield overtakes Warriors, 76-64"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Hawai’i forward Gytis Nmeiksa — shown in an earlier game — scored 21 points and grabbed five rebounds in almost 26 minutes off the bench Thursday at Cal State Bakersfield. (Chris Kadooka file photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

With both teams’ postseason hopes at stake Thursday night, Cal State Bakersfield did its part to control its own destiny. Hawai’i did not.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Roadrunners (14-18 overall) overtook the Warriors not just in the second half but also in the tenuous Big West standings, winning 76-64 to close out their regular season at 8-12, taking UH’s former spot at seventh place. The Warriors dropped to 15-15 overall and 7-12, tied for eighth place with Cal Poly San Luis Obispo (13-18, 7-12).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Only the top eight teams after the regular season finales on Saturday will advance to the Big West Tournament set for March 12-15 in Henderson, Nev.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hawai’i plays at Cal State Northridge, a team it lost to, 83-60, on Jan. 16. Cal Poly plays at Long Beach State, which is 7-24, 3-16 and already lost to Cal Poly, 78-69, on Jan. 25.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Warriors can still punch their ticket either by beating the Matadors (21-9, 13-6), or via a loss by Cal Poly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Of course, UH could have clinched the tournament berth by beating Cal State Bakersfield, and things looked promising when the Warriors took a 37-33 halftime lead and were up, 42-35, two minutes into the second half after Tom Beattie’s 3-pointer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Unfortunately for Hawai’i, that would be its last 3-point make of the game as the Warriors went ice cold from beyond the arc, missing its final 12 attempts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That played a big part in the Roadrunners’ reversal of fortunes, as they responded to that seven-point deficit with Jemel Jones’ short jumper which ignited a stunning 19-4 run capped by CJ Hardy’s two free throws for a 54-46 lead with 11:47 remaining in the game.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The closest UH got after that was 60-56, after Beattie’s fast break layup with 7:31 left. But Marvin McGhee answered with a 3-pointer just 23 seconds later, and the Warriors could not get inside of a five-point margin thereafter. Nmeiksa’s two free throws cut it to 67-62 with 4:31 on the clock, then Bakersfield closed out the game with a 9-2 run.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jones poured in a game-high 29 points and grabbed five rebounds, Hardy added 19 points and six boards, and McGhee contributed 16 points. All three are guards.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Very disappointing,” Hawai’i coach Eran Ganot said in a postgame radio interview on ESPN Honolulu 1420AM. “Jones really hurt us, he got to the rim at will. Hardy, too. And the missed shots hurt us.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After shooting 50 percent (14 of 28) from the field in the first half, the Warriors sank to 35.7 percent (10 of 28) after the break. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nmeiksa finished with 21 points and five rebounds, Tanner Christensen added 12 points and seven boards, and Beattie contributed 11 points and four rebounds. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Big West Conference Standings<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \n
  1. UC San Diego 17-2<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  2. UC Irvine 16-3<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  3. Cal State Northridge 13-6<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  4. UC Riverside 13-6<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  5. UC Santa Barbara 11-8<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  6. UC Davis 9-10<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  7. Cal State Bakersfield 8-12<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  8. HAWAI\u2019I 7-12<\/strong> <\/li>\n\n\n\n
  9. Cal Poly San Luis Obispo 7-12<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  10. Long Beach State 3-16<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  11. Cal State Fullerton 1-18<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n

    NOTE:\u00a0<\/strong>Only the top eight teams at the end of the regular season will qualify for the Big West Tournament set for March 12-15 in Henderson, Nev.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    With both teams’ postseason hopes at stake Thursday night, Cal State Bakersfield did its part to control its own destiny. Hawai’i did not. The Roadrunners (14-18 overall) overtook the Warriors not just in the second half but also in the tenuous Big West standings, winning 76-64 to close out their […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/warriorinsider.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2792"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/warriorinsider.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/warriorinsider.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/warriorinsider.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/warriorinsider.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2792"}],"version-history":[{"count":13,"href":"https:\/\/warriorinsider.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2792\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2816,"href":"https:\/\/warriorinsider.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2792\/revisions\/2816"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/warriorinsider.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2792"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/warriorinsider.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2792"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/warriorinsider.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2792"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}