MERCED, Calif. - The men's basketball team dropped a hard-fought road game against Cal Pac rival UC Merced tonight, 62-76.
Drey Ubas scored the first points of the 2024 year when he hit a mid-range jumper to open the game.
However, the Red Hawks would play from behind the entire first half as they chased down the Bobcats lead.
Three-pointers by Ubas,
Akin Branco,
Kyle Brennon, and
Parker Martens would help cut into the UC Merced lead on three different occasions.
Trey Conrad would drill two free throws to pull Simpson within 11 points to end the first half of play.
The Bobcats offense proved to be lethal as they shot 50% from the floor as the team compared to Simpson's 34.8%.
Trey Conrad had a nice first half as he had a team-high six points to go along with two rebounds.
Kyle Brennon would start the scoring in the second half as he drilled a long three-pointer to pull Simpson within eight points coming into the second half of play.
Simpson would show a lot of fight in the second half by outscoring the Bobcats bench 19-8 and 12-10 for points in the paint.
However, they were unable to erase the 11-point second-half deficit as they would fall 76-62.
Drey Ubas had a team-high 12 points and three steals to go along with four rebounds.
Parker Martens and
Kyle Brennon each had nine points while Martens registered six rebounds.
With the loss, Simpson is now in sole possession of fourth place in the Cal Pac standings.
Simpson will look to bounce back in Lancaster, CA as they take on The University of Antelope Valley this Saturday at 6:30 PM.
