BAKERSFIELD, Calif. – Utah Valley lost a heartbreaker at the buzzer, 73-71, as its comeback attempt came up just short on the road at CSU Bakersfield. The loss drops the Wolverines to 11-6 on the season and 0-2 in WAC play. The Runners move to 10-5 and 2-0 in conference play.
 
The Wolverines tied the game up at 71 apiece with 19 seconds left on a three pointer by Ben Nakwaasah but were unable to gather the final rebound as the Runners threw up a wild shot that went off the glass and in at the buzzer.
 
Utah Valley opened up the game on an 11-2 run before CSU Bakersfield responded with a 13-3 run to take a 15-14 lead with 10:29 to go in the first half. The Runners than used an 8-0 run to take a 34-27 lead with 1:34 to go in the opening half. Both teams would exchange three-point field goals before a layup by Conner Toolson at the buzzer sent the Wolverines into the half only down five.
 
CSU Bakersfield extended their lead to double digits with an 8-2 run to start the second half. They extend that lead up to 13 points before the Connor MacDougall went on a 10-0 run all by himself to trim the lead down to 53-50 with 11:21 to go in the game. After going back and forth, the Wolverines tied the game up at 65 apiece with 4:42 to go in regulation. The Runners took a 71-68 lead with 36 seconds to play before Nakwaasah hit the game-tying three from the top of the key with 19 seconds remaining.
 
Utah Valley was able to stop CSU Bakersfield and called a timeout with 4.3 seconds to go in the game. The Wolverines were unable to inbound the ball successfully and the Runners were awarded the ball under their own basket. CSUB forced a three from the corner but UVU was unable to coral the rebound and Taze Moore threw up a desperation shot from just outside the paint that banked in as the horn sounded.
 
The Wolverines shot 52.4 percent from the field, including connecting on 11 threes and 16-19 from the line. UVU was outrebounded 31-26 for the game and the Runners' 16-5 edge on the offensive glass was converted into a 20-1 advantage in second chance points. Utah Valley also turned the ball over 17 times compared to nine for CSU Bakersfield, which were converted into a 26-7 advantage in points off turnovers for CSUB.  
 
MacDougall led the Wolverines with 14 points off the bench on a perfect 4-4 from the field and 6-6 from the charity stripe. Conner Toolson chipped in 13 points and Isaiah White added 10 points and a team-high seven rebounds. Nakwaasah had a team high five assists.
 
The Wolverines return home to host Seattle U in their conference home opener on Jan. 12 in the UCCU Center. The game will broadcasted at 7pm MT on the WAC Digital Network and on ESPN 960AM.