Cal State Bakersfield survives four overtime game against Utah Valley
There is no rest for the weary, or for the Roadrunners.
After an 81-80 semifinal victory in four overtimes over Utah Valley on Friday night at Orleans Arena, Cal State Bakersfield will have less than 24 hours to rest for the Western Athletic Conference men’s tournament championship game.
Bakersfield coach Rod Barnes said after his team played the first four overtime game in WAC tournament history that he wasn’t worried about fatigue.
“Not at all,” he said. “Obviously we’re tired, obviously fatigued when you play that much during tonight’s game. But we’ll get our guys ready. We’re 40 minutes away.”
The Roadrunners are now 40 minutes from repeating as WAC champions and booking their ticket to the NCAA Tournament for the second time in school history. They will play New Mexico State, which defeated Missouri-Kansas City 78-60 in the other semifinal, at 8 p.m. Saturday.
“We’ve got 40 minutes to do something that’s never been done, and that’s make history again,” Barnes said. “We believe in mind over matter. So again, we’ve been built for this, so we’ll be fine.”
Before Friday, the longest game in WAC tournament history was three overtimes, in 1996 and 2008.
Senior Matt Smith, who scored 14 points, said he also wasn’t concerned about being tired.
“Getting rest tonight, of course that’s key. But at the same time, like coach said, we are 40 minutes away before we make history,” Smith said. “Nobody really cares how many overtimes we played. Whoever we’re going to play against they don’t really care.”
Friday wasn’t the first time Bakersfield played a four overtime game. Two years ago, the Roadrunners opened their season against High Point University in a 100-99 loss in four OTs.
Two players currently on the team played in that game. One of them, senior Jaylin Airington, led the Roadrunners with 22 points Friday.
“I feel like tomorrow we’re not going to feel these aches and bruises,” he said. “We want to win again, so we’ll be ready.”
Said Barnes: “They’ve been doing it all year. They figure out a way to win. It’s not pretty, it’s not the way it’s drawn up all the time, but they just get it done.”
In the second semifinal, Braxton Huggins scored 18 points for the Aggies, who advanced to the title game for the fifth consecutive season.
Contact reporter Bill Slane at bslane@reviewjournal.com or 702-380-4559. Follow @bill_slane on Twitter.
WAC women's roundup
New Mexico State 71, Missouri-Kansas City 63 — Junior Moriah Mack led the defending champion Aggies with 21 points. They will play Seattle University in the championship game at 3 p.m. Saturday at Orleans Arena.
Seattle University 61, Utah Valley 60 — Senior Wilma Afunugo had 19 points and 15 rebounds for the Redhawks, who advanced when a shot by Utah Valley missed as time expired.
