By Aaron Nixon, who scored 22 points in Long State’s 73-70 win over Cal State Bakersfield Friday night at The Walter Pyramid, had a simple answer when he was asked if he felt a responsibility to be the go-to man for the men’s basketball team this year.
“Yeah,” Nixon said.
Nixon was that man Friday, helping LBSU (2-1) to a victory in the teams’ home opener in front of 1,949 fans.
“The crowd was great tonight,” Nixon said. “That’s the kind of support we need every game.”
LBSU jumped out to an early 28-12 lead in the first half, but CS Bakersfield (0-2), which is in its first season of Division I basketball, went on an 18-2 tier to tie the game going into the break.
“It was our third game in four days and we only had a couple of hours of preparation,” said LBSU head coach Larry Reynolds. “Not to take anything away from Bakersfield, but I do think that played a role in the game.”
Midway through the second half, the 49ers began to put some distance between themselves and CS Bakersfield, going a quick 8-2 run to push their lead to 61-52.
The 49ers would keep Bakersfield at bay for the rest of the game, never letting the Roadrunners get closer than three points.
“That’s a good team. We expected a tough game,” Nixon said
Kejuan Johnson, who is a pre-season All-Conference selection, started the game on the bench for the 49ers, but ended up playing 29 minutes and scoring 13 points. Reynolds said Johnson didn’t start because of a “coaching decision.”
Bakersfield was led by center Carl Dumas, who gave the LBSU interior defense fits, scoring 24 points and grabbing 12 rebounds.
Friday’s game ended the first week of play for LBSU, which lost to Air Force 69-68 Tuesday, but beat San Jose State 86-67 Wednesday. Both games were at Stanford University in the College Basketball Experience Classic.
