BAKERSFIELD, Calif. - The Fresno Pacific men's basketball team put up a solid fight, but ultimately fell to NCAA Division I CSU Bakersfield 81-68 in an exhibition on Friday afternoon at the Icardo Center. The Sunbirds trailed by only two with four minutes left in the first half before the athletic Roadrunners used a run to distance themselves in front of 1,946 fans.

Spencer Krannitz led FPU with 17 points on 6-of-9 shooting, including a 3-of-6 clip from three, and grabbed six rebounds. Tyrone Viney Jr. added 15 points, going 10-of-10 from the free throw line, while Gabe Solarin scored nine points. Suhail Mohammadi chipped in with eight points, three rebounds and three assists.

CSUB (3-0), a member of the Western Athletic Conference, received a double-double of 29 points and 13 rebounds from Kevin Mays in the win. Damiyne Durham added 18 points, making five threes, and grabbed four rebounds.

"(CSU) Bakersfield is a very good, athletic team that is going to have a solid year," said head coach Tim Kisner. "I was proud of our effort today. We moved the ball, shared it and created open looks for ourselves. If we compete and play as hard as we did today, we will have a chance to win a lot of games this season."

The Sunbirds and Roadrunners exchanged baskets early before a three from Mohammadi gave FPU its first lead of the afternoon at 11-10 with 15:24 left in the half. FPU grabbed its largest lead at the 8:11 mark with the score 23-21 after a Viney Jr. three. With the score 29-27 in favor of CSUB with 4:27 left in the half, the Roadrunners used a 14-4 run to lead 43-31 at the intermission that proved to be the difference.

Behind by as many as 22 points in the second half, its largest deficit of the evening, FPU battled back. With 8:33 remaining in the game, Solarin drilled a three-point shot to propel a mini 7-2 run that ended with the Sunbirds down 11 with 6:49 left. The Sunbirds hung around and trailed by 10 with 1:25 to go, but wouldn't come any closer as the Roadrunners ran out the clock.

The Sunbirds were limited to 39 percent shooting from the floor in the setback, but nailed 22-of-24 free throws. CSUB countered with a 42 percent clip as a team and benefitted from 36 free-throw attempts, making 28 out them. The Roadrunners out-rebounded the Sunbirds 39-29 and scored 16 second-chance points.

"It's always a good experience to play against bigger and faster players," noted Kisner. "These type of games really prepare us for the conference schedule, where we will face off against good teams."

Since 2007 the Sunbirds are 2-14 in exhibitions with NCAA Division I programs, with wins over USC (2007) and San Francisco (2008). CSUB now holds a 19-1 all-time series advantage over FPU.

The Sunbirds now turn their focus back to regular season play tomorrow at 6 p.m. in the home opener against Cal Maritime. Fans can listen live on AM 1680 in the surrounding Fresno area.