The struggles continued for Dalph Panopio and CSU Bakersfield, suffering a 74-62 loss to defending Big West Conference champion UC Santa Barbara, Friday morning (Manila time) at the Icardo Center in Bakersfield, California.
The Roadrunners fell to 6-12 overall and 1-7 in conference play with the loss.
Panopio tallied eight points, four assists, and two rebounds in 26 minutes of play.
Down by as much as 21 points, 60-39, in the second half, the Roadrunners stormed back, cutting the lead down to eight, 70-62, with just under a minute left on the clock.
However, time was not on the side of CSUB as UCSB went up to 10-0 in the standings and 2-4 in the conference.
Ajay Mitchell led the Gauchos with 21 points on 8-of-12 shooting from the field. Meanwhile, Cole Anderson had 18 points built on four treys.
Justin McCall paced the Roadrunners with 20 points on 12-of-13 shooting from the charity stripe.
CSUB ends its homestand on Sunday (Manila time) going up against Cal State Northridge.