MERCED, Calif. - Winners of three straight games, the men's basketball squad fell tonight to first place UC Merced, 79-63. 

Reigning Cal Pac Offensive Player of the Week, Timothy Parker got the scoring started with a jump shot to put Simpson on the board first. 

The Bobcats and Red Hawks tangled within one point for half of the first half before the Bobcats took the six-point lead. 

A big three-pointer by Drey Ubas at the 12-minute mark pulled Simpson back within three points. 

But the Bobcats built a 10-point lead with eight minutes left as the Red Hawks began to chip away. 

A three-pointer by DaMari Tate with just over three minutes left in the half pulled Simpson within five as they trailed 30-25. 

However, the Bobcats closed out the half on a 7-2 run to take the 37-27 lead into the half. 

Ubas began the second half scoring as he drilled a mid-range jumper before the Bobcats exploded for 16 straight points as a dunk by Jace Mills ended the streak. 

This proved to be a crushing streak for Simpson as the Bobcats grew its largest lead of the game to 24 points. 

Simpson scored the final seven points of the game as Drew Nelson, Jack Jillson, and Kellen Torrey picked up buckets but could not overcome the second-half deficit. 

Mills had a team-high 12 points and seven rebounds while Trey Conrad had a big game off the bench by scoring 12 points as he shot 4-8 from the floor. 

With the loss, Simpson sits in fourth place as they hold a one-game lead over California Maritime Academy and remain half a game behind La Sierra. 

Simpson looks to bounce back tomorrow as they take on UC Santa Cruz in a nonconference matchup at 2 pm. 
 

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