“Now we just have our focus on making the playoffs.”
That statement by freshman guard Shane Poppen comes after his team reached many new heights last week, including defeating six-time defending California Collegiate Athletic Association champion Cal State San Bernardino 57-55 on Feb. 15 and out-lasted Cal State Monterey Bay 70-67 on Feb. 17. The Tritons, 13-12 overall and 10-6 in conference action, lost a lot of close games early in the season and had not beaten San Bernardino since the move to NCAA Division II. The team also has never finished .500 or better in CCAA play, which it is now guaranteed to do. And the 13 wins? Already a two-game improvement over their Division-II best 11 wins last season.
“We’re playing really well as a team, and it just feels good to be on a winning streak,” sophomore guard Jason Bull said.
That winning streak is now up to four games, their longest streak in eight years and another D-II first. The growing list of achievements, the continued improvement of the team and the fact that it is currently tied for third place in CCAA, three games behind the top two seeds with four games left to play, are definitely reason enough for the Tritons to focus on a playoff appearance, another Triton first.
On Feb. 17, the stingy Triton defense held Cal State Monterey Bay to 14 points in the first 15 and a half minutes of the game, leading 22-14 with four minutes to play in the half. Unfortunately, that eight-point lead was the most UCSD could manage in the period despite holding Cal State Monterey Bay below 40 percent shooting and forcing six first-half turnovers. The Otters exploded for 11 points in the last four minutes, cutting the Triton lead to four, 29-25, at intermission.
Though the Tritons were able to capitalize on an early outburst and push their lead to seven, UCSD and the fans in attendance got a scare when freshman forward Henry Patterson went to the bench with an injury just one minute into the second half. As tempers began to flare, the two teams battled harder. The Otters closed to within three before the Tritons pushed the lead up to a game-best nine. Patterson would return with 13:10 left to play and the Tritons holding a seven-point advantage.
At the 2:29 mark, the Otters completed a 13-3 run and took their first lead of the game, 65-64. The Tritons, burned early in the season by close losses, remained poised. Freshman forward Darryl Lawlor responded with a three-pointer and after Otters center Devoughn Lamont tied the game at 67, Bull drove the lane, dished it to Patterson, and the CCAA field-goal percentage leader helped regain the lead. Patterson continued his tremendous effort, drawing a charge on the defensive end. After holding the Otters scoreless in the final two minutes, senior guard Odioh Odiye and sophomore guard Clint Allard each grabbed a crucial rebound to preserve the 70-67 victory.
Odiye and Allard each had a game-high seven rebounds, while Patterson and Bull had career-high nights with 24 and 17 points, respectively.
“I get in there and sometimes it’s for one minute, sometimes it’s for two. … I just try to make something happen,” said Bull, who accumulated the total in only 13 minutes of play off the bench.
On Feb. 15 against Cal State San Bernardino, the Tritons fell behind early, down 9-2 three minutes into the game. With head coach Bill Carr using a number of substitutions and the Tritons running their patient offensive set, the team climbed back into it, erasing the deficit and taking their first lead of the game, 14-13, at the 11:45 mark. From there, the lead would change five more times in the half. Bull hit a jumper with three seconds left in the half to give the Tritons a one-point advantage going into the break.
The second half proved much more of a defensive battle than the first, which seemed to bode well for the Tritons and their top-ranked defense. The Coyotes, despite having four of their players suspended by coach Jeff Oliver, remained persistent. Though they would never lead in the half, they prevented the Tritons from pushing their lead to double digits. While UCSD was successful in holding off the Coyotes for nearly 18-and-a-half minutes in the second half, Cal State San Bernardino mustered enough energy for a 6-0 run that tied the game, 55-55, with 1:37 left to play.
“In that situation every possession is critical,” Poppen said.
After a foul by the Coyotes’ Jason Davis, Poppen came off a cross-screen at the free-throw line, catching his defender off guard, and driving into the lane for a layup and a 57-55 UCSD lead with 1:13 left to play.
“I knew that I had to go to the hoop strong and make sure we get those two points,” Poppen said. “Then we have to just play hard defense.”
With both teams still in the game with a minute to play, the Tritons and Coyotes played stingy defense and, as a result, neither team scored the rest of the way. Cal State San Bernardino would have three possessions to try to tie or win the game, the final resulting in a three-point attempt by Curtis Williams with six seconds left. The shot was long and Odiye again caught the rebound, holding onto the ball as time expired.
Patterson again led the way to victory with a game-high 21 points and team-high six rebounds, while Poppen added 12 points, two rebounds and two steals in 27 minutes off the bench. Allard had a great all-around game with five points, five rebounds and a game-high six assists, the final dish leading to Poppen’s game-winning layup.
UCSD returns to the road for the final time this season, traveling to play Cal Poly Pomona on Feb. 24 and San Francisco State on Feb. 25.
