PHOENIX, Ariz. ? The UC San Diego men's basketball team suffered a heartbreaking 64-62 double overtime loss to Grand Canyon University on Monday night at Antelope Gymnasium in Phoenix. With the loss the Tritons fall to 0-2 on the year while the Antelopes improve to 1-1.
The Tritons, who led by a 21-18 margin at halftime, had a chance to pull out the victory in the second overtime, leading by a 62-60 margin with 25 seconds to go and Clint Allard at the line. Allard, however, missed both charity shots that led to a Shansan Chambers lay-up with six seconds to go that tied the game up for the ?Lopes at 62-62. Chambers was fouled on the play and made the free throw to put GCU up by one.
On the ensuing play, UCSD's Shane Poppen committed a turnover with just one second to go, forcing Jordan Lawley to foul Grand Canyon's Bryan Lee who made one of two free throws to put the Antelopes up by two points. The Tritons could not get off a potential game-tying shot and fell to its former CCAA rival by the 64-62 margin.
Allard led all scorers on the evening with 20 points while teammate Darryl Lawlor added 11 points and a team-high seven rebounds while playing a game-high 47 minutes. Freshman Kelvin Kim added six points and a game-high four assists in the loss.
The Tritons were again playing without All-CCAA First Team performer Henry Patterson who missed his second-straight game after fracturing a bone in his face during the 74-69 exhibition loss to Division I San Diego on Monday, November 13. Patterson also missed the team's season opener at San Diego State on November 15.
Lee led the Antelopes in scoring, pouring in 15 points to go along with a game-high 12 rebounds. Ladi Makinde added 12 points and four rebounds while Richard Davis rounded out the GCU scorer's in double digits, scoring 11 points and seven rebounds.
The Tritons return to action this weekend, playing two contests at the Seattle Pacific Thanksgiving Classic on November 24th and 25th in Las Vegas, Nev. UCSD will take on the 5th-ranked Falcons on Friday afternoon at 4 p.m. before facing 2nd-ranked Montevallo at 2 p.m. on Saturday.
Following this weekend's holiday tournament, the Tritons will open up its 2006-07 home season with its first CCAA contest of the year, hosting Chico State at 7:30 p.m. on Friday night, December 1.
