LAS VEGAS, Nev. ? Sophomore Darryl Lawlor scored 15 points and pulled down six rebounds to lead the UC San Diego men's basketball team to a 62-52 upset victory over 4th-ranked Seattle Pacific on Friday afternoon in Las Vegas. The game was both teams' first game as part of the Falcon Las Vegas Thanksgiving Classic.
With the win the Tritons improve to 1-2 on the season while dropping the Falcons to 2-1 on the year. UCSD will play 2nd-ranked Montevallo on Saturday afternoon at 2 p.m. Montevallo defeated Cal State Dominguez Hills on Friday by a 70-67 margin in the other tournament contest. SPU will face CSUDH at 4 p.m. in the final tourney game.
Lawlor, the sophomore forward from Yorba Linda, Calif., made 5-of-6 shots from the floor, including 2-of-3 from long range, en route to scoring one point below his career-high. His career-high of 16 points came at Cal State L.A. last season on December 3.
Junior Clint Allard added 13 points while senior Robby Peters chipped in with 10. Sophomore A.J. Maulhardt added four points and a team-high seven rebounds in the win for the Tritons.
Rob Will led the SPU offense on the night with 17 points on 6-for-8 shooting from the floor. His teammates could make only 13-of-41 shots from the field as the Falcons shot a dismal 37.3% from the floor in the loss.
The Tritons out-rebounded Seattle Pacific by a 37-32 margin while also shooting over 46% from long distance while limiting the Falcons to less than 17% from behind the 3-point arc.
Following Saturday's tournament finale against Montevallo, UCSD will return to RIMAC for its home and CCAA opener next Friday evening, December 1, against Chico State. Tip-off is slated for 7:30 p.m. as is the Saturday night, December 2, contest against Cal State Stanislaus.
