RIVERSIDE, Calif. | Three players scored in double figures but it wasn’t enough as Jackson State fell 79-73 to California Baptist at the Fowler Events Center on Saturday night.
Dorian McMillian and Daeshun Ruffin each finished with 20 points in the loss for Jackson State, with Ruffin hitting double figures returning to the court for the first time since Arkansas State (Dec. 5). Shannon Grant finished with 10 points in just nine minutes for the Tigers before fouling out early in the second half.
Both teams had runs in the game that opened big leads beginning with a 10-2 run by Jackson State in the first 4:30, while Cal Baptist countered with a 10-3 run over the first four minutes of the second half to take a 44-37 lead. Cal Baptist built the lead to as many as 16 (58-42) with 11:26 remaining in the game before Jackson State came back to trim the deficit to single digits at six (70-64) with 2:01 remaining. They were able to get to five two times in the last minute including 75-70 with 31 seconds remaining. They were able to cut it four (77-73) on a three-pointer from Jayme Mitchell Jr. with eight seconds remaining…