Runners End Season, 8-21 Again

CSUB Men's basketball ended the season with a 78-73 loss Tuesday night to Cal State Fullerton despite another strong second half effort. The Runners trailed by as many as 18 before climbing back to pull within four in the final minute before the Titans netted some free throws down the stretch to seal the win.
Bakersfield's seniors Terrance Johns and Donald Lee had solid nights in their final games with CSUB, John's scoring 16 and Lee 11 to help the Runners comeback effort.
CSUB finished 8-21 this season, the identical record to last season for CSUB despite a tougher schedule. It was another tough year for CSUB, lots of travel, another season as an Independent, only 12 home games compared the 17 on the road. The efforts this season were much better than last, near upsets at Oregon State, Pacific and St Mary's come to mind. Despite the lack of "marquee" wins for CSUB this season (Fresno State, San Diego coming to mind last year). The Runners overall were better, and sweeping teams like Utah Valley who had their number last season and old rivals like Cal Poly San Luis Obispo prove this CSUB team is well on their way.
Add in a nice crop of recruits including Stephon Carter and redshirt freshman James Albright with returners like Alex Johnson, Donovan Bragg, Trent Blakely and Santwon Latunde and CSUB has the makings of a 15 win team next year despite an even tougher schedule.
Look for CSUB to be better, look for games against UCLA and Gonzaga to be true tests of this program's development. I think you'll like what you see in 2009-2010. Keep the support, keep the faith, we're on our way.