In a game as close as the one Park University Gilbert men's basketball team's was on Sunday night, it could only be expected that it would come down to the final shot. Unfortunately, the Buccaneers were on the wrong end of a tight contest and fell to UC-Merced, 54-51.
The Bucs trailed for the majority of the game, but caught multiple breaks in the closing seconds that kept them alive until the final buzzer. Down 54-48, the Bobcats' Tiler Fears missed a free throw that set up a clutch three-pointer from Jacob Bingham.
The Bobcats went 2-9 from the free-throw line on the night and it nearly cost them the game as Fears' miss was followed by two more. Bingham fired two more three-pointers off the misses but could not get it to fall as the Bucs dropped their fifth conference game.
In a game like that, it is easy to blame the missed opportunities at the end for the loss, but 22 turnovers from the Buccaneers is the glaring statistic that decided things. One category where the Bucs outdid the Bobcats was bench points, led by a game-high 21 points (8-12) and five rebounds from Erik Palmer.
After a few games of trying to find his legs since coming back from an injury, it felt like Tyson Beringer Jr. was back in form on the defensive end; he flirted with a double-double at 12 rebounds and seven blocks.
With the loss, the Buccaneers fall to 4-17 on the season. Conference play continues next week with three games against Embry-Riddle (Ariz.), Westcliff and Saint Katherine on Feb. 2, 4 and 6. All games are at home and mark the end of the Bucs' home games for the season.
Notes:
- 54 points is the fewest scored by a Buccaneers opponent all season and the total of 105 points ties the Nov. 20 game vs Southern Oregon for the lowest combined total in a Bucs game this season.
- Beringer's seven blocks is the second most he has ever recorded in a game.
