After playing .500 ball during its December home stand, the UCSD men’s basketball team enters 2005 with a 4-4 overall record.
The Tritons, looking to start at the top of the pack in CCAA conference play, started off on a sour note in that aspect with a 66-48 loss to Cal State Bakersfield in their CCAA conference opener on Dec. 3 at RIMAC Arena. The Tritons were behind by 15 points after the first half due to poor shooting from the field and a lack of presence in rebounding. The Tritons’ 35-percent field-goal percentage was dwarfed in comparison to the 62.5-percent first half shooting percentage from the Roadrunners, who also out-rebounded UCSD, 17-8.
The UCSD team showed resolve, going on a 15-5 run in the second half to cut Bakersfield’s lead to seven. However, the Roadrunners proved too powerful, ending the game on a 20-9 run. Freshman guard Clint Allard led the Tritons with 15 points, five rebounds and three assists, while the Roadrunners got 13 points from Yancey Stanciell and nine points and nine rebounds from Andre Hardwick.
UCSD followed up the disappointing loss with a 59-57 home win over Cal State Los Angeles on Dec. 4. The Tritons emerged victorious in the nail-biter thanks to clutch play from freshman guard Andrew Hatch, who led the team with 15 points, including three in the final 18 seconds. After the Golden Eagles built a double-digit lead in the second half, the Tritons bounced back. With neither team shooting exceptionally well from the field or the three-point range, the Tritons were the beneficiaries of the Golden Eagles’ struggles from the free-throw line, converting only 15 of 23 compared to 24 of 34 for the Tritons. Jon Folonis led Cal State Los Angeles with his game-high 16 points, while DeJesus Brown and Ivan Jackson added 13 and 12 points, respectively. The Tritons got 13 points from sophomore guard Robby Peters. Sophomore forward Parker Berling collected a game-high nine rebounds while also going four-of-four from the free-throw line.
After a week off during finals week, the UCSD men’s basketball team returned to the court against Mesa State on Dec. 15 at RIMAC Arena. The Tritons were unable to keep up with a blistering shooting performance from the Mavericks, who built a 17-point advantage at halftime on the way to an 81-55 victory. The loss dropped the Tritons below .500 for the year and also kept them one win shy of the men’s basketball program’s 500th victory. The Mavericks seemed to be firing on all cylinders in the first half, shooting 79 percent from the field and 88 percent from behind the three-point arc, while the Tritons, despite shooting a respectable 44.4 percent from the field, struggled behind the arc and at the free-throw line.
The Mavericks’ shooting cooled off a bit in the second half, slipping to 50 percent from the field and 44 percent from three-point range, but the Tritons’ continued struggles at the charity stripe, shooting at just over 50 percent, kept the team from making any dent in the Mavericks’ lead. Mesa State had three players in double-digit scoring, including center Andy Classick with a game-high 13. Tony Qorri notched seven rebounds for the Mavericks, who out-rebounded UCSD 30-19 overall. Sophomore guard Robby Peters led UCSD in scoring with 11 points, and shot 3-of-6 from three-point range.
The UCSD men’s basketball team notched the program’s 500th victory with a 76-64 victory over the crosstown rival Point Loma on Dec. 17 at RIMAC Arena. The teams played a game that alternated between scoring spurts and droughts. After the Sea Lions jumped out to a 10-0 lead to start the contest, the Tritons came back to lead by 12 points going into halftime. In the second half, the Tritons were able to extend their lead to as much as 23 points before the Sea Lions battled back to cut the deficit to seven with just over two minutes left. However, the Tritons were able to hold on, limiting the Sea Lions to four points in the final two minutes to get the victory.
Although Point Loma out-rebounded UCSD, 34-26, and dominated on the offensive boards, 10-2, the Tritons won thanks to good shooting from the field, shooting 56.5 percent for the game and 47.1 percent from outside. The Tritons were helped by a career-high 12 points in 18 minutes from freshman guard Joey Toboni, who scored only 10 points total in the first seven games of the season. The team also gained 14 points and five rebounds from Berling, 11 points from sophomore forward Chris Randall and 10 points from Peters, who leads the team with 10.1 average points per game. The Tritons also committed six fewer turnovers than their opposition while getting to the free-throw line nine more times and converting eight more from the line. The 500th victory brings the team’s all-time record to 500-506.
After a respectable record during the holiday stretch of home games, head coach Bill Carr will look to lead the Tritons through back-to-back away games. Action will resume on Jan. 7, when they look to improve their CCAA conference play record against Cal State Stanislaus (2-7) in Turlock, Calif., with tip-off scheduled for 7:30 p.m., followed the next night by an 8 p.m. tip-off against Chico State (6-3) in Chico, Calif.
