“I’ve been playing here for three years and this is by far the best team we’ve ever had.” That’s what junior guard Robby Peters said on Jan. 7 after the Tritons dominated the Chico State Wildcats, winning their first California Collegiate Athletic Assocation game of the season 61-41. Following a December stretch in which the Tritons concluded their season-opening nine-game road trip by going 1-5, the team returned to RIMAC Arena in January. After a 94-91 overtime win against Grand Canyon University on Jan. 3 in the home opener, UCSD dropped a tough 79-75 loss to Cal State Stanislaus three days later.
Freshman forward Henry Patterson rips the ball from a Chico State defender in the Tritons 61-41 victory over the Wildcats on Jan. 7. Patterson led UCSD with 14 points.
The Tritons played tremendous defense after halftime against Chico State, allowing the Wildcats to score only four points in the first nine and a half minutes of the second period, and only 16 points overall after intermission. The Tritons’ 20-point win was their biggest margin of victory since joining the CCAA and their biggest win overall since 2001.
The two teams battled each other in the first half, with neither able to gain more than Chico State’s early six-point lead. A jumper by sophomore guard Jason Bull gave the Tritons a four-point cushion, but Chico State guard Justin Argenal hit a jumper before the buzzer to send the teams into halftime separated by only a single point.
“We came out and played a decent first half, but we were a little bit sluggish,” Peters said. “Coach kind of gave it to us at halftime, and that just got us pumped up. We weren’t accepting what we did in the first half.”
UCSD definitely came out pumped in the second half. After allowing Chico State to shoot .474 from the field and .444 from three-point range in the first half, the Wildcats were held to .200 shooting from the field and .083 from long distance. The Tritons improved on their own .444 field goal and .250 three-point shooting in the first half, going .400 from three-point range on 2-of-5 shooting and an extremely impressive and efficient .591 shooting from the field during the second half.
“We just really focused on our scouting today,” sophomore guard Andrew Hatch said. “We knew their big scorer was [Andy Bocain]. He scored 16 points tonight, but he’s scored 30 in other league games.”
Bocain, who led all players with 16 points and seven rebounds, provided the Wildcats’ first nine points of the second half and the only four points Chico State could muster in the first nine and a half minutes. Bocain, however, needed 12 field attempts and 5-of-6 shooting from the free-throw line to notch his game-high.
On the other side of the ball, freshman forward Henry Patterson led the UCSD offense with 14 points on 7-of-11 shooting to go along with four rebounds and one big block. Freshman guard Shane Poppen had 12 points while sophomore guard Clint Allard added 10 and a team-high five assists. Freshman forward Darryl Lawlor also contributed with six points, a team-high five rebounds, one assist and one block in 19 minutes of play. As a team, the Tritons out-rebounded the Wildcats 33-25 and had 17 turnovers, compared with Chico State’s 21.
“We’re really starting to click right now,” senior guard Odioh Odiyeh said. “Playing at home is key. We had nine games on the road, and that was tough. Hopefully, we’ll be able to ride this momentum.”
With a team-first mentality, poise and determination, the Tritons look ready to continue their strong start through 2006. They’ll have their next chance to do that when they return to the road to face Cal State San Bernardino on Jan. 11.
