In their first home games in over a month, the Tritons fed off the raucous home crowd and played extremely well against two California Collegiate Athletics Association opponents. On Jan. 19, UCSD ended No. 12 Cal State San Bernardino’s 10-game winning streak with a convincing 69-63 victory. The Tritons then picked up their first loss in four games against ranked teams on Jan. 20 with a 60-54 decision against No. 24 Cal Poly Pomona that was even closer than the final score indicated. UCSD’s record now stands at 5-9 overall and 3-6 in the CCAA.
Sophomore forward Henry Patterson scored 14 points in the win over Cal State San Bernardino on Jan. 19, but it wasn’t enough to carry his team to a second victory, as the Tritons dropped the ball at home the following night with a 60-54 loss to Cal Poly Pomona.
The defensive tone against Cal Poly Pomona was set early with both teams moving the ball around and neither able to find open shot attempts. UCSD was the first to reach double digits, with senior guard Robby Peters’ three-pointer giving them a 12-8 advantage with 8 minutes, 38 seconds left to play in the first half. UCSD would lead through most of the opening half until a series of questionable foul and turnover calls went against the Tritons, and Broncos senior guard Dion Cook scored six straight points in the final five minutes in a stretch where UCSD’s only offense was another Peters three-pointer.
Coming out in the second half down two, UCSD needed only 12 seconds to regain the lead on a three-pointer by sophomore guard Kelvin Kim. After five Broncos points gave Cal Poly Pomona the lead again, threes by Kim and Peters cut and then retook the lead for the Tritons for the final time. Though UCSD would tie the score three more times and not trail by more than five points until just over a minute left to play, the CCAA-leading Broncos got timely shots from Cook and two drive-killing threes from fellow senior guard Luis Pulido to secure the win.
Cook led all scorers with 20 points, while Kim and Peters led the Triton offense with 15 and 12 points, respectively. Kim also dished out a team-high six assists, while sophomore forward Shane Poppen played another strong game coming off the bench, scoring nine points and grabbing a team-high eight rebounds.
“”I was a little injured early in the year and then I fought back and had a couple big games up north,”” said Poppen, whose key offensive rebounds and put-backs that kept UCSD close in the second half. “”What you do is accept your role and play the best of it.””
The Tritons started out slowly against Cal State San Bernardino as the Coyotes, tied with Cal Poly Pomona atop the CCAA standings, scored the first seven points of the game, with UCSD unable to get on the board until two free throws by sophomore forward Darryl Lawlor three and a half minutes into the game. The Tritons then scored the next five points and held the Coyotes scoreless for over three minutes to tie the game. The two teams traded scoring runs with five lead changes and six ties through the rest of the half. UCSD took advantage of the seesaw game, scoring the final six points of the half on three-pointers by Peters and junior guard Clint Allard to give UCSD a 34-28 lead heading into the half.
“”We had a huge crowd and we’re just riding the wave,”” said sophomore forward Henry Patterson, who had six points in the first half of his first home game, having been injured earlier in the season. “”We rise to the level of our competition.””
UCSD definitely did that in the second half, never relinquishing the lead or allowing the Coyotes to tie the score. The Tritons, whose only previous victory against Cal State San Bernardino came in a two-point win during their last matchup of the previous season, led by as many as 16 points, out-rebounded the larger Coyotes, 26-23, and were able to respond offensively when the lead was cut to as low as four points with under four minutes to play.
“”We knew that if our defense came alive, then our offense would follow,”” said freshman guard Jordan Lawley, who led four Tritons in double digits with 15 points in just 17 minutes off the bench. “”We just had to shut down their big man [6-foot-8-inch senior center Ivan Johnson], and unfortunately he got his points, but we just shut down their other main players and did well.””
Johnson led all scorers with 19 points and tied for the team high with five rebounds, but was joined by only one other Coyote in double figures. Poppen and Patterson each added 14 for UCSD, while Allard had 13 points and game highs of eight assists and eight rebounds.
The Tritons are back on the road for four games before returning to play seven of their final nine games at home. Their next games will be Jan. 26 at San Francisco State and Jan. 27 at Cal State Monterey Bay.
