This past weekend the Triton Men’s Basketball team went on the road to face Cal State Monterey Bay on Friday and Cal State East Bay on Saturday.
The Tritons surged past Monterey Bay thanks to junior guard Tyler “The Light-Switch” McGrath’s career high 21 points, but the team failed to maintain its offense as it fell 83-71 to the Warriors.
The team’s win on Saturday marks UCSD’s first win on the road since the Tritons beat the Academy of Art way back in November.
The game was dominated by the Tritons from the get-go, with senior forward Christian Hatch winning the tip and getting the offense going to the tune of 11-5 on a “Light-Switch” triple.
Hatch went on to have a great night, hitting eight of ten from the field for 18 points and bringing down six rebounds.
Sophomore McKenzie McCullough had 15 points on six of twelve from the field along with four rebounds.
McCullough along with standout sophomore point guard James McCann, represent the core of next year’s Triton team.
McCann had nine points and five assists on the night, as he again led the Triton backcourt.
UCSD led by as much as 20 points with 8:42 remaining, with the score 40-60, before ending the night with a comfortable 13-point lead.
The team shot 52 percent from the field.
In each half they went 14-27 to show their shooting is not as bad as the season-low 24 percent they threw up last Saturday.
Friday, the team went up against Cal State East Bay, who sits just above the Tritons in the CCAA rankings.
Senior power forward Mike Meza had a career high 21 points, all of them threes, to put himself in the record books.
The seven three pointers in one game is the most since Tyler Acevedo hit seven four years ago.
His three pointers rank fifth all time for hits in a single game.
McCann and McCullough had 15 points apiece, showing that the future of the Triton team is very bright. Hatch had 11 points on the night and, more impressively, nine rebounds to equalize the rebounds each squad had at 33.
“We played very well tonight,” head coach Chris Carlson said to the UCSD athletics department. “That’s certainly not one of the better teams we’ve seen by any means, but it’s very hard to win on the road in this league and we came to play. We jumped on them early and didn’t let up.”
It is hard to find a difference between the two teams on paper, other than the fact that the Pioneers scored 50 points in the second half to the Tritons’ 37.
The Tritons hit more three pointers, 11 to 10, and had a better shooting percentage, 52 percent to 43 percent, but in the end it’s about how many times you put the ball in the bucket.
The Tritons hit 22 from the field while the Pioneers hit 25.
“We got some injuries right now but our team is real excited about this last road trip,” McCann said. “We really want to go out strong for our seniors.”
After falling to 6-14 in the CCAA, the Tritons have eliminated themselves from advancing to the eight-team conference tournament.
UCSD’s last two conference games are slated for next week.
On Wednesday, the Tritons will face Humboldt State and on Saturday, UCSD rounds out the season at Sonoma State.
“I don’t think we have ever won at Humboldt and they always have a great crowd so we are really looking forward to that game.” McCann said.
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