MEN’S BASKETBALL ‘mdash; The Tritons suffered a rough weekend on the road, dropping consecutive decisions to California Collegiate Athletic Association opponents. UCSD came within one point in the second half before falling 74-59 to Cal State San Bernardino on Jan. 9 and led at the half before losing 54-51 to Cal Poly Pomona on Jan. 10. UCSD’s overall record now stands at 6-6 and 2-4 in the CCAA.
The conference’s top two defensive teams played exactly as advertised in the first half, where each squad allowed only seven field goals. Senior forward Shane Poppen and senior guard Alan Husted combined to score the first 14 points for UCSD. Poppen opened the game with a dunk, while Husted hit one three-pointer and was then fouled on another long distance attempt, converting all three attempts from the line. Neither team led by more than two possessions throughout the first half, with the Tritons opening their largest lead of five points following a three-pointer by junior guard Tyler Acevedo with less than a minute before the break. UCSD keyed in on Cal Poly Pomona’s leading scorer and rebounder Larry Gordon, holding the forward scoreless throughout the first half.
‘One of our main focuses is containing one of the best players in our conference, Larry Gordon,’ senior guard Kelvin Kim said before the game. ‘He is the centerpiece of this team, so we need to make sure to limit his impact.’
UCSD could not hold its slim lead for long as the Broncos tied the game less than four minutes into the second half. After the Tritons regained the advantage with a Poppen tip-in and layup from junior guard Jordan
Lawley, Cal Poly Pomona put together a 7-0 run to take its first lead, 36-35, since the 7:15 point of the first half. The teams exchanged leads four more times over the next five minutes. UCSD trailed by four points following a layup with 2:26 left to play. After a missed three-pointer by Gordon, Lawley grabbed the defensive board and assisted on Husted’s three-pointer, cutting the lead to one, 52-51. Cal Poly Pomona protected its lead down the stretch as senior forward Brett Stuckey, Lawley and Husted all missed potential game-tying shots. Gordon converted two from the free-throw line and grabbed two defensive boards to help secure the win for the Broncos.
Cal Poly Pomona’s biggest advantage came on rebounds, 37-20 over the Tritons, with 18 offensive rebounds, compared to only six rebounds on the offensive glass for UCSD.
‘Pomona’s strength is their ability to make plays in the key,’ Kim said. ‘They’re a great offensive rebounding team and they have some good penetrators that can get into the lane and make plays.’
Poppen and Husted led the Tritons with 14 points apiece, while Stuckey grabbed a team-high six rebounds to go along with five points and two blocks. Kim was held to five points, but added a game-high five assists and two steals, and Acevedo scored six points in eight minutes off the bench. One night earlier, the Tritons faced a tough team in Cal State San Bernardino. UCSD and Cal State San Bernardino were locked in a tight contest throughout the first half. Senior center A.J. Maulhardt opened the game with a jumper following three UCSD offensive rebounds, but the Coyotes responded with an early 8-2 run. The Tritons would trail from the 16:39 point in the first half until an Acevedo fast-break layup off an assist by Kim gave UCSD a 16-15 advantage with less than seven minutes remaining in the first half. The two teams would trade baskets until Cal State San Bernardino rolled off a 6-0 run to take its biggest lead of the half, 29-23, with 1:03 left in the first. Despite holding a slightly better first-half shooting percentage ‘mdash; 40.7 percent compared to the Coyotes’ 37.5 percent ‘mdash; UCSD headed into the break trailing by five. The Tritons were unable to get to the free-throw line in the first half, while Cal State San Bernardino went 9-for-9 from the charity stripe.
Cal State San Bernardino’s junior forward Brandon Brown led a quick charge in the second half, scoring the first seven points following intermission and helping the Coyotes to their first double-digit lead of the game, 41-30, with 16:09 left to play. After trailing by as much as 13 points, the Tritons received some life from their reserves. Freshman guard Jay Wey scored on a layup, sophomore guard Casey Ryan hit 1-of-2 free throws and senior forward Patrick Dreith nailed a three-pointer as part of an 11-0 UCSD run.
‘Our offensive and defensive execution is what helped spark that run in the second half,’ Kim said. ‘We were moving the ball and making the right decisions on offense and we were getting stops on defense.’
Lawley scored two free throws and a three-pointer to cap the 11-0 run and carry the Tritons to 45-44 with 8:18 left to play. Following a Cal State San Bernardino three-pointer, Lawley again connected from long distance and scored his ninth consecutive point for UCSD at the free-throw line. Unfortunately, the Tritons went cold from the field, not scoring from Lawley’s free throw with six minutes until Kim’s three-pointer with 1:43 left to play. The Coyotes regained their double-digit advantage and were able to hold on for the 15-point victory.
‘The biggest difficulty was keeping San Bernardino on its heels after we made our little run to cut the game to one,’ Kim said. ‘I feel like there were some pivotal moments during that period where we didn’t make the plays we needed to keep the momentum going for us.’
Lawley led the team in scoring with 15 points, connecting on 3-of-5 from three-point range and adding two assists, one block, one steal and one rebound. Poppen scored 10 points, while Kim scored six and dished out a season-high seven assists. Maulhardt was the game’s leading rebounder with six boards. Cal State San Bernardino recorded a new single-game record for free throw accuracy, connecting on 25-of-26, while the Tritons went only 8-of-15 from the line.
UCSD returns to action next weekend, hoping to end its current three-game losing streak with another pair of road conference contests. The Tritons will face Cal State Monterey Bay on Jan. 16 before traveling to San Francisco State on Jan. 17.
Readers can contact Joe Tevelowitz at [email protected].