Coming off its win against the Australian Institute of Sports last weekend, the UCSD men’s basketball team took on the University of Redlands Saturday night at RIMAC Arena.
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The Tritons completely overpowered the Bulldogs throughout both halves of play and won the game 104 to 44.
UCSD sophomore Ryan Swed led the Tritons with 16 points and seven rebounds. Senior Nick Christensen drove the lane multiple times and scored 15 points in the game.
Triton sophomore forward Kyle Moyneur added 13 points to the victory while junior center Jeff Oppenheimer and freshman guard Hassan Bassiri notched 11 points each.
Swed sunk five out of six from beyond the three-point line, while Oppenheimer made two for two.
Overall, the Tritons made 38 of 62 field goals and shot a remarkable 61.3 percent from the floor, while the Bulldogs could only manage to make eight of 44 outside shots, recording an 18.2 shooting percentage.
Although sophomores Ryan McCarthy and Kai Lyles led the Bulldog team with eight and seven points, respectively, in the loss, the team’s 23 turnovers and inability to gain momentum plagued the University of Redlands.
Triton head coach Greg Lanthier was pleased with the victory, but realizes that UCSD has a long road ahead. Last year, in their first season in Division II, the Tritons posted an overall record of 4-23, 3-19 in the California Collegiate Athletic Association. This year, the preseason CCAA poll predicts that the Tritons will again finish last.
“”The polls are based on what happened last year, and last year is over,”” Lanthier commented. “”They don’t know about the players and the team that we have this season.””
UCSD’s upcoming games feature competition between its cross-town rivals. The Tritons will travel across town to face the Division I USD Toreros on Nov. 20 at 7 p.m. and then will contend with the Division I SDSU Aztecs on Nov. 27 at 7:30 p.m.
The Tritons are ready for the competition and are looking forward to a successful 2001-2002 season.
“”We have a much more physical team this year,”” Lanthier said. “”The talent is much improved and we are optimistic about the future.””
