The UCSD men’s basketball team put together its longest winning streak of the season with a pair of road wins over Cal State Los Angeles and Cal State Bakersfield.
The 55-50 victory over Cal State Los Angeles (1-17 overall, 0-11 California Collegiate Athletic Association) at the Eagles’ Nest on the evening of Feb. 4 gave the Tritons (9-10 overall, 5-7 CCAA play) a season sweep of the series. The 66-60 upset of the Roadrunners (13-6 overall, 8-4 CCAA) at Centennial Garden in Bakersfield, Calif., on the night of Feb. 5 was the first victory for the Tritons over Cal State Bakersfield in 12 games.
The Tritons were tough throughout the first half of the Bakersfield game, leading for all but one minute and taking a 32-30 advantage into the half. The Roadrunners looked like they might be able to pull away early in the second half, quickly erasing the two-point deficit and going up by four at the 17:45 point after a jumper by senior forward Curtis Washington. However, an unlikely hero emerged from the bench as sophomore forward and former Cal State Bakersfield red shirt Zackary Craddock came in to score 12 points and grab two rebounds in a six and a half minute stretch, putting the Tritons up 49-43 after a three-pointer off a Robby Peters assist. The Tritons would not trail for the rest of the game, and built the lead up to 11 after a three-pointer by junior guard Odioh Odiyeh at the 2:08 mark.
Craddock showed the Roadrunners what they were missing, leading the Tritons in scoring with 14 points on 5-5 shooting in only 14 minutes of play. Sophomore forward Parker Berling contributed 10 points and tied for the team-high with five rebounds, while sophomore guard Peters added nine points off the bench. As a team, the Tritons shot 42.4 percent from the field and converted nine of their 19 three-point attempts for a 47.4 percent average.
The Roadrunners fared far worse, shooting less than 40 percent from the field, and a horrendous 7.7 percent from three-point range, converting only one of their nine attempts. Washington led the team with a career-high 22 points, while senior guard Eddie Shelby added 14 points, four rebounds and a game-high four assists. Center Andre Hardwick recorded a game-high nine rebounds, but also turned the ball over five times, hurting the chances for a Bakersfield team that won the battle of the boards with the Tritons, 35-26, but turned the ball over a combined 15 times.
UCSD got big games from both members of its freshman starting backcourt in their Feb. 4 night game against Cal State Los Angeles. The Tritons put together a strong first half of basketball and were able to take a seven-point advantage into intermission. The Golden Eagles did outscore the Tritons in the second half, 31-29, but were unable to take advantage of poor Triton shooting from long distance, and ultimately found themselves stifled by a strong performance from the UCSD defense.
The Tritons will look to extend their three-game win streak and possibly pull to above .500 with a pair of home games against Chico State on Feb. 11 and Cal State Stanislaus on Feb. 12. Both games are scheduled for 7:30 p.m. starts at RIMAC Arena.
