SPOKANE, Wash. ? The UC San Diego men's basketball team hung tough with the 7th-ranked team in Division I for much of the first half before a 12-0 run to end the first stanza spelled the beginning of the end for the Tritons as Gonzaga pulled away for an 81-36 victory on Saturday night in Spokane. UCSD has lost both of its preseason games this year to Division I schools and will conclude its preseason slate with a game against another D-I opponent in Eastern Washington on Sunday evening in Cheyney.
The Tritons played the Bulldogs tight in the first half, taking a 20-19 lead on a Darryl Lawlor jumper with just under nine minutes to go. Gonzaga took the lead right back but could not immediately pull away as UCSD pulled to within four points at 29-25 with just over five minutes to go after a Shane Poppen 3-pointer.
From that point on, however, Gonzaga flexed its collective muscles and went on a 12-0 run to end the half with a 41-25 lead. That run continued through the first 10 minutes of the second half as the Bulldogs began the second half on a 17-0 run. UCSD finally ended its drought at the 9:58 mark of the second half when a Robby Peters jumper made the score 58-27.
All 13 players that head coach Bill Carr took on the Tritons' swing through the Pacific Northwest made it into the contest. Freshman Henry Patterson led the way with 10 points on 3-for-5 shooting from the floor and 4-of-6 from the charity stripe in his 25 minutes of play. Lawlor added nine points while A.J. Maulhardt pulled down a team-high eight rebounds in his 11 minutes of action.
Gonzaga had two players score in double digits led by J.P. Bautista's 18. Derek Raivio added 10 points while preseason All-America selection Adam Morrison was limited to only nine points on 1-for-6 shooting from the floor.
Following UCSD's game at Eastern Washington on Sunday the Tritons will begin their 2005-06 regular season with a game at Cal Poly on Friday, November 18 at 7 p.m. in Mott Gymnasium on the San Luis Obispo campus.
