The UCSD men’s basketball team ended its five-game home stand this weekend, dropping two games to conference opponents. On Feb. 16, the Tritons stayed close, but lost their final match against Cal State Bakersfield in California Collegiate Athletic Association play, 56-67. The Roadrunners are in a transition year and will compete as a Division I team next season. The Tritons traded the lead with the Cal State Los Angeles Golden Eagles the next night throughout the first half, but were unable to pick up the victory, falling 86-77 on Feb. 17. UCSD’s record now stands at 10-13 overall and 8-10 in CCAA play. The Tritons are currently tied with Cal State Monterey Bay for sixth in the conference standings with four regular-season games left to play.
Sophomore forward Henry Patterson’s team-high 20 points and five rebounds were not enough to push a win for the Tritons in their 56-67 loss to the Roadrunners on Feb. 16 .
The Tritons worked inside early against the Golden Eagles, scoring their first eight points by four different players as a result of driving to the hoop. Cal State Los Angeles would tie the game at 10 following two three-pointers before senior forward Jontae Vinson, the CCAA’s leading scorer at 24.5 points per game and third-leading rebounder at 8.3 boards per game, took over. Vinson scored six straight points over the next two minutes, giving the Golden Eagles their largest lead of the half, 16-11. UCSD would come right back as the two teams traded the lead four times in the final four and a half minutes of the first quarter. Vinson scored 11 of Cal State Los Angeles’ final 14 points in the half off a mix of layups and jumpers, while sophomore guards Shane Poppen and Kelvin Kim kept the Tritons within striking distance to score 16 of the final 18 points in the half.
“”[Vinson] was rising up and shooting over us,”” said Poppen, who had nine points in nine first-half minutes. “”He just played well. We’re used to playing a grind-it-out style, but when we’re down we can push it if we need the points.””
After finding themselves down by double digits just four minutes into the second half, the Tritons pushed the ball on offense and used a full-court press on defense, going on an 8-0 run that was capped off by a Kim steal leading to a three-point play by sophomore forward Darryl Lawlor, cutting the lead to two in the process. However, Vinson scored the next eight points for the Golden Eagles, who slowly rebuilt their advantage and led by 14 points with three minutes, 40 seconds left to play.
“”It felt like everyone was a step slower today,”” Kim said. “”We didn’t box out too well, the guards allowed penetration, and [Cal State Los Angeles] just dropped it off for Vinson to get easy layups.””
UCSD was able to muster a final run, as Kim nailed a three-pointer following senior guard Robby Peters’ steal to cut the lead to seven. The Tritons, who entered the double bonus at 10 fouls with 7:40 left to play, then watched as junior guard Vincent Camper made one of two free throws and Vinson, after making rebounds on both ends of the court, put in a layup to push the lead back to seven. Peters responded on the other end, however, with his fourth three-pointer of the game. Then, following another successful Cal State Los Angeles free throw, Kim drew a foul from behind the arc and hit two of three free throws to cut the lead to three with 42 seconds to play.
Unfortunately for the Tritons, Kim was unsuccessful on the next two trips down the court for the Tritons, and the Golden Eagles were able to build the final margin from the foul line.
Vinson led all scorers with 42 points on 17-of-25 shooting from the field and 8-of-12 from the foul line. The 42 points were only the third-highest total for the explosive scorer this season. Camper was the only other Golden Eagles player in double figures, with 18 points. Kim scored a team-high 19 points and added a game-high six assists for the Tritons, while Peters had 12 points, two rebounds and two assists. Poppen, Lawlor and junior guard Clint Allard scored 11 apiece. Poppen also pulled down a team high of eight rebounds.
“”We didn’t come out and play with the energy that we usually play with,”” Peters said. “”We didn’t come out and protect our home court, we just didn’t play the way we’re capable of playing basketball.””
UCSD again exhibited some energy to begin the game, grabbing an early four-point lead with 16:07 to go in the first half. Unfortunately, that would be the Tritons’ largest lead of the game.
UCSD was able to stay close, however, never trailing by more than six points, while limiting the Roadrunners’ leading scorer, Dwuan Rice, to only two first-half points. Six Tritons scored in the first half, led by freshman guard Jordan Lawley’s first-half bests of seven points and three assists. Lawley had a chance to give UCSD the lead heading into the half, but his three-point attempt was just off, and the Tritons went into the break down two.
“”Rice was a good penetrator, but we were keeping him out of the lane,”” Poppen said of the team’s first-half efforts against one of the conference’s top-10 scorers.
UCSD came out of the break and took an early lead against a squad that they had only beaten once in the previous 15 meetings. However, they soon relinquished the advantage, and despite never trailing by double digits until the final score, they were unable to regain control of the game.
Sophomore forward Henry Patterson finished with a game-high 20 points and a team high of five rebounds, but no other Triton scored in double digits.
The Tritons, who hold a 3-2 record on the season against ranked teams, now head out on the road for the final time this season facing No. 24 Cal Poly Pomona on Feb. 23 and No. 20 Cal State San Bernardino on Feb. 24.
