CARSON, Calif. ? The UC San Diego men's basketball team was outscored by a 35-19 margin in the second half and fell to host Cal State Dominguez Hills by a 60-51 score on Wednesday night in the Torodome on the CSUDH campus. With the loss the Tritons fall to 3-5 overall and 1-2 in CCAA play while the Toros capture their fourth-straight victory and improve to 4-3 overall and 2-1 in league action.
UCSD held a 32-25 lead at halftime behind 12 first half points from senior Robby Peters who connected on 4 of 6 shots from behind the arc. That lead would extend to 36-27 at the 17:31 mark in the second half before the Toros went on a 24-4 run over the next 11 minutes to take a 51-40 lead.
The Tritons went on a 9-0 run of their own over the next three minutes to cut the CSUDH lead down to 51-49, but could get no closer as the Toros closed out the final 3:44 of the game on a 9-2 run.
Despite connecting on 40% of their shots from 3-point range (8-for-20), UCSD only shot 33.3% (17-for-51) from the floor on the night as no Triton player made at least half of their shots taken.
The Toros, however, went 21-for-42 (50.0%) from the floor and made 2 of 7 from behind the arc. They connected on 16 of 22 free throws and held a 33-26 advantage in rebounds. The victory for CSUDH is only its second in the last nine meetings with UCSD.
Peters did not score in the second half and finished the game with those 12 first half points while sophomore Henry Patterson made his regular season debut for UCSD and scored 11. The All-CCAA first teamer from last year had been sidelined since suffering a broken bone in his face during the November 13 exhibition game at the University of San Diego.
Junior Clint Allard added 11 points, six rebounds and five assists in the loss for the Tritons.
Mike Steed led four CSUDH scorers in double figures on the night, pouring in 12 points to go along with seven rebounds and three assists. Carlos Rivers and Shamont Brown added 11 and 10 points, respectively, while Jamaal added 10 points and a game-high 13 rebounds.
The Tritons, who have 15 days off before its next contest, will return to the court on Thursday, January 4th, when they travel to take on CCAA newcomer Humboldt State. Tipoff is slated for 7:30 p.m. on the HSU campus located in Arcata, Calif.
