LA JOLLA, Calif. - The UC San Diego men's basketball team got 18 points and five rebounds from Henry Patterson during the 64-63 victory over visiting Cal State L.A. on Friday evening in RIMAC Arena. With the win the Tritons improve to 15-6 overall and 11-4 in CCAA play while dropping the Golden Eagles to 13-10 overall and 7-9 in conference action.
Additionally, the win pushes UCSD into a tie for first place in the CCAA standings alongside Cal State San Bernardino as the Coyotes were upset at home by last place Chico State, 63-60.
The Tritons held a 38-30 advantage going into the break after shooting 56.5% from the floor, including a 5-for-10 mark from beyond the arc. UCSD also went 7-for-9 from the charity stripe, helping give itself the eight point cushion.
After the intermission, head coach Chris Carlson's squad would let the Golden Eagles back into the game at the 12:21 mark when a Junior Rodriguez jumper knotted the score at 44 apiece. The Tritons would go on a 9-2 run over the next three minutes to break out into a seven point lead again, but CSULA would just no go away, cutting that lead down do one at 64-63 with just one tick on the clock after Demetrius Hazel tipped-in a Vincent Camper 3-point miss that would have tied the game.
The Golden Eagles called timeout after the tip-in which allowed Carlson to draw up a play that had Alan Husted catch the ball on the run, preventing CSULA from fouling. Husted ran out the clock to preserve the narrow one point margin of victory.
Patterson's 18 points led the Tritons while Husted added 13 on 4-for-6 shooting from long range. Add that to his 5-for-6 performance from behind the arc during last Saturday's 82-61 win over Sonoma State, and Husted has now made nine of his last 12 attempts from behind the 3-point line.
Christopher Mark led three CSULA scorers in double figures with his 14 points in the loss. He also pulled down 11-rebounds to round out his double-double night. Camper added 12 points and four assists whlie Rodriguez chipped in with 10 points and seven rebounds.
UCSD returns to action on Saturday evening, hosting Cal State Dominguez Hills at 7:30 p.m. in RIMAC Arena. The Tritons will celebrate Senior Night on Saturday, holding a brief pregame ceremony to honor its five out-going senior student-athletes.
