Box Score Box Score
Merced, Calif. - FPU picked up its first win of the season, leading from start to finish in a 81-70 victory at UC Merced. The Sunbirds built a 43-26 halftime lead before the Bobcats made a push in the second half, cutting the deficit to 10 a couple times but never getting any closer.
John Taylor led the Sunbirds (1-2) with 22 points in the win.
Malcolm Griffin added 19 for FPU.
Matt Samuels finished with 10 points and
Rickey Vick had nine on a perfect night from the field. Aki Chambers led all scorers with 28 points for the Bobcats (0-4).
"I thought we started off really well," said head coach Chris Wright. "It's the first time we've seen zone in an extended stretch and I thought we handled it really well. We jumped out to a good lead but could never really put the distance between us and them that we needed to. So that was a little frustrating to have them hang around all game when we felt we should have pulled away. We see flashes of really good basketball, but we're just not where we need to be, especially on the defensive end."
The Sunbirds were all over the Bobcats in the first half, with Taylor and Vick setting the tone early on by hitting two quick three-pointers to put FPU ahead 6-2.
FPU had the Bobcats locked down defensively and soon built up a 17-4 lead after a
Zach Kaul three-pointer and breakaway layup. Griffin, who had picked up two fouls in the first two minutes of the game, reentered and gave the Sunbirds a huge boost as they extended the lead.
He would sink two pull-up three-pointers with defenders right up in his face to put the Sunbirds ahead 25-10. Griffin was a force on the defensive end as well, leading the team with four steals and helping the Sunbirds get plenty of points in transition.
Taylor used his superior ball-handling skills to baffle UCM defenders throughout the first half, at one point putting so many moves on the UCM defender that he fell down before Taylor scored an easy bucket. He did a good job of getting teammates involved as well, dishing out multiple assists that were unaccounted for in the final stats.
The Bobcats came out fighting in the second half though and after a couple questionable offensive foul calls took away Sunbird bucket, UCM would continue to chip away at the lead. The Bobcats would get within 55-44 before Taylor pulled up from way beyond the three-point line to silence the home crowd and make it 58-44.
UCM would get within 64-54 with six minutes left, but Vick would give the Sunbirds a couple key buckets in crunch time to seal the victory.
After struggling mightily from the free-throw line in their first two games, FPU shot 85 percent (17-of-20) from the line tonight. The Sunbirds shot 46 percent from the field compared to 36 percent for the Bobcats. FPU had 29 turnovers, a number that will have to come down in the weeks ahead.
The Sunbirds are back home next week on Tuesday night for their regular season opener as they host defending California Pacific Conference champ Cal Maritime.
