SANTA ROSA, Calif. - The UC San Diego men's basketball team won its sixth straight contest on Friday evening, defeating Sonoma State by a 58-54 score inside the Haehl Pavilion on the Santa Rosa Junior College campus. The game was moved to SRJC after a power outage on the SSU campus forced the game to be held elsewhere.
With the win the Tritons remain atop the CCAA standings with their 3-0 league record and improve to 6-2 overall. The Seawolves fall to 6-4 overall and 2-2 in league action.
Sonoma State jumped out to early leads of 2-0 and 4-2, but a 9-0 run over a five minute stretch early in the first half gave the Tritons a comfortable margin. UCSD was able to extend the lead to 15 before settling on a ten point halftime edge at 27-17.
The Tritons led by as many as 17 in the second half before the Seawolves finishing kick nearly brought them all the way back. A late 10-0 run from the four-minute mark to the 52-second mark, pulled SSU to within two. However, UCSD hit eight consecutive free throws in the final 46 seconds to close out the game.
UC San Diego prevented SSU's top scoring threats from getting completely on track, although Andrew Kochevar and Ben Washington did combine for 19 points. The pair was held scoreless until Kochevar scored his first points with under 12 minutes left in the contest.
Doni Noble and Keith Garner picked up the slack, each finishing with 13 points. Garner also had a team-high eight rebounds and four assists.
UC San Diego got 21 points from Jordan Lawley and 12 more from Clint Allard, who also grabbed four rebounds and dished out a game-high six assists. Shane Poppen came off the bench for a team-high seven rebounds and seven points.
First year head coach Chris Carlson and his squad will now make the long drive north to Arcata for a Saturday night matchup with defending CCAA Champion Humboldt State. That game is slated for a 7:30 p.m. tip-off inside East Gym on the HSU campus.
