BAKERSFIELD, Calif. – DJ Davis poured in a career-best 24 points in a 66-61 victory at CSU Bakersfield in the regular season finale at the Icardo Center Saturday afternoon.

Davis went 7-13 from the floor, including 4-8 from three-point range and was clutch at the line, hitting 6-6. Davis was efficient with 24 points in 26 minutes of action. His 24 points are tied for the second most scored this season by an Anteater, matching Dawson Baker at CSUN and Collin Welp at USC.

The Anteaters improved to 15-9 overall and 9-5 in the Big West. UCI closed out the regular season, winning nine of its last 11 outings.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS
>Guard Justin Hohn added 12 points, knocking down a pair of three-pointers. He pulled down seven rebounds which tied his career best and had two steals and two assists
>Forward Austin Johnson grabbed a team-best eight rebounds to go with six points. He was 3-4 from the floor and rejected three shots
>Dawson Baker totaled eight points, while Collin Welp had seven points and four rebounds and JC Butler tallied six points, all in the second half
>CSU Bakersfield had four players with double-digit points led by Justin McCall and Shawn Stith with 12 points each
>UCI out-rebounded CSUB 33-31, but the Roadrunners took advantage of second chance opportunities, scoring 13 points
>UCI shot 46 percent from the floor (23-50), including six three-pointers. CSU Bakersfield shot 40.4% from the field and had three three-pointers. The Anteaters were 14-17 from the line, while Roadrunners were 12-17

FIRST HALF
>Justin Hohn went up high to grab a rebound, drove the length of the court to the hoop then would knock down a three to get UCI out to a 7-2 lead at 16:29
>Kaleb Higgins kept CSUB in the game scoring five points before back-to-back threes gave the Runners their first lead, 14-12 at 10:41
>The lead was short-lived as Hohn had a high-arching shot in the paint (10:49) and another three in the corner to move the Anteaters back in front,  17-14 (8:27)
>The Runners had eight in a row before UCI scored eight of their own. Welp knocked down a baseline fall away and was fouled. He would make the bonus at 4:13 that was followed by Davis pushing the ball up the court and draining a three (3:44) and Dawson Baker driving in for a layup (2:58), 25-22
>CSU Bakersfield would score the final six on a pair of free throws and a rebound put-back and a foul to take a 26-25 lead at the half

SECOND HALF
>Baker started the half with a tightly defended jumper as the clock ran down at 19:69 (28-26)
>Baker was saddled with his fourth foul with 16:51 remaining so JC Butler picked up the scoring hitting a  jumper at 18:30 then a layup at 17:04, 33-32
>A jumper by Welp moved the Anteater lead to 35-32 at 15:17
>A pair of free throws and a three by Davis made it 40-36 at 13:39
>UCI would go on an 8-2 run, capped by Davis knocking down another from long range (9:21) and Austin Johnson throwing down a dunk on a pass from Welp to give UCI the 49-42 advantage at 8:43
>The 'Runners would answer with the next four to keep it close, 49-46 (8:01)
>Davis (5:10) and Baker (4:46) would each make two free throws then Welp found Butler underneath the hoop for a layup, 59-49 (4:00)
>Davis continued the scoring with a runner down the lane at 3:42 (61-49) before Justin McCall stopped the 8-0 streak with a basket at 3:34 (61-51)
>McCall's bucket was the first of nine straight by CSUB to close within 61-58 at 53.5
>It was Davis again streaking down the lane to stop the momentum, 63-58 with 36 ticks left
>Following a Hohn free throw, Higgins hit a three-pointer to keep it interesting with nine seconds left, 64-61
>CSUB had to foul and Davis stepped up to the line to solidify the win with two free throws (.02), 66-61  

UCI HEAD COACH RUSSELL TURNER SAID
"I'm obviously pleased to get a road win in March, those are hard to get and credit to Bakersfield to how hard they fought on Senior Day. I thought our guys were much more in rhythm and focused then earlier in the week. We knew we had to rebound and take care of the ball and we did enough of that to win. DJ had a great game. I thought Justin and DJ stepped forward in this game and we needed them too. I think we have a lot of weapons on this team and I think we will be ready next week."

NOTES
>In the 10^th meeting between the teams, UCI holds a 7-3 lead, including the season sweep
>Since 1989 this was only the 55^th  loss fans have seen in the Icardo Center
>Davis attempted eight threes, the most by an Anteater this season
>The Roadrunners knew UCI leads the nation in three-point defense, taking just eight for the game, a season-low for an opponent

UP NEXT
UCI will compete at The 2022 Hercules Tires Big West Basketball Championships Presented by The Hawaiian Islands next week. The Anteaters will start the journey on Thursday with the opponent and game time will be determined once all of the league games are finished tonight.