The UCSD men’s basketball team continued its woes Friday, falling to UC Davis 91-78 at RIMAC Arena.
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The Aggies came out and dominated the first 15 minutes of the game, jumping out to a 22-point lead. However, the Tritons were able to narrow the gap going into halftime and gained some momentum going into the second half.
“”We were able to cut a 22-point deficit down to 13 points,”” said UCSD center Jody Woods. “”This gave us confidence heading into the second half.””
The problem with UCSD of late has been its lack of intensity in the second half of games. Coach Greg Lanthier just told his team to keep up the work.
“”He told us to keep playing hard like we were,”” said Triton forward Jordan Watkins. “”He said that we are a young team and we must keep up the intensity.””
The Tritons charged in the second half, led by the three-point shooting of Ryan Swed, who had 15 points; the hustle of Woods, who finished with 13 points and 14 rebounds; and the physical play of Watkins, who scored 14 points. With a little over four minutes to go in the game, UCSD cut the Aggies’ lead to just four points. UC Davis was forced to call a time-out.
Out of the time-out, UC Davis went to its top guns Jess McElree and Dominic Callori. Both were unstoppable, finishing with 32 and 25 points respectively. The two are among the league leaders in scoring and rebounding.
“”They are better than us,”” Lanthier said. “”They are older and more experienced, and they know how to execute plays better than we do. We are better than last year, but we are young.””
The loss drops the Tritons 4-17 in the California Collegiate Athletic Association. UCSD is in danger of taking over last place.
“”This is something we can build off of,”” Woods said. “”We are improving.””
Saturday night brought about a change of fortune for the struggling men’s basketball team. The 101-91 win over Chico State snapped UCSD’s nine-game losing streak.
On senior night, it was two newcomers to the Tritons roster who led the way to victory over the Wildcats. Freshman Jordan Watkins chipped in 19 points in only 18 minutes of play while Woods also added 19 points, pulling down 11 rebounds in the process.
This game also marked the first time UCSD has eclipsed the century mark in California Collegiate Athletic Association play, and the first time the Tritons have done it at all since a 104-44 pounding of University of Redlands in the opening game of the season.
A physical contest from the outset, this game was marred by 56 fouls and three foul-outs.
“”It was a game played by two young, tired teams,”” said UCSD coach Greg Lanthier. “”It truthfully wasn’t a pretty game.””
The Tritons uncharacteristically shied away from the three-point shot, only hoisting 21 of a total 60 field-goal attempts. When they did shoot, however, they were sizzling, scoring 43 percent from beyond the arc.
This game, in fact, was only the second time in UCSD’s CCAA history that the opponent had more three-point attempts — Chico fired 23 on Saturday. The only other time this happened was in a 96-77 thrashing of San Francisco State last season when the Tritons had 19 attempts compared to the Gators’ 23.
The win was a great way for the team’s lone senior, Nick Christensen, to finish his career. Christensen was named the team’s most valuable player before the game, the second time in a row he has won that award. Christensen scored 14 points against Chico, leading the team in steals and blocks.
The Tritons finished the season 8-21, going 5-17 in CCAA play.
“”We got better throughout the season and we’re going to continue to get better,”” Lanthier said. “”Overall, it was a good year. I had an incredible group of guys who were great to coach.””
The late-season development of Hassan Bassiri and C.J. Duffaut, along with the incoming red shirts and freshmen will likely be enough to help the Tritons next year, and perhaps even surprise the skeptics.
