POMONA, Calif. - The UC San Diego men's basketball team put up a valiant effort but came out on the wrong side of a 78-76 decision on Saturday night at Cal Poly Pomona. With the win the Broncos improve to 11-12 overall and 10-8 in CCAA play while the Tritons fall to 15-9 overall and 11-7 in league action.
Despite trailing by a 33-27 margin at halftime, the Tritons came out in the second half and showed why it is in the upper echelon of the conference. Battling back from an 11-point deficit early in the second half, UCSD took a 76-75 lead with only 29 seconds on the clock after Clint Allard converted on a rare 4-point play. The senior from San Jose drained a 3-pointer and was fouled on the play by Cal Poly Pomona's Rich Collins. Allard would calmly sink the free throw to give the Tritons their first lead since holding a 19-18 advantage with 6:23 on the clock in the first half.
The Broncos would get two free throws from Donnelle Booker on their next trip down the floor to re-take the lead at 77-76. Angelo Tsagarakis would convert on one of two foul shots with four seconds to go to give CPP a 78-76 advantage after a Darryl Lawlor foul. The Tritons would have a shot at the victory, but Allard's long range attempt with one second on the clock would miss, giving the Broncos the narrow victory.
As a team the Tritons shot just under 50% from the floor, but it was no match for Cal Poly Pomona's 28-for-45 (62.2%) performance. Tsagarakis scored 16 points to lead four CPP players who scored in double figures. Kaelen Daniels added 14 points and six rebounds while Larry Gordon chipped in with 13 points, five rebounds and five assists.
Allard netted a game-high 19 points in the loss for the Tritons while Lawlor added 16 points and a game-high seven rebounds. Andrew Hatch added 12 points and three assists.
Head coach Chris Carlson's team remains alone in third place, three games behind Cal State San Bernardino and two behind Humboldt State, both of whom have locked up hosting responsibilities for the first round of the CCAA Championship Tournament that begins on March 4. Two more teams will host the first round action that day, one of which can be UCSD with one more league victory and a little bit of help. Victories in each of the Tritons' final two conference matchups would secure hosting rights without any help.
Standing in the way next week are CSU Monterey Bay and San Francisco State. The Tritons will play at CSUMB on Thursday evening before making the trek up to the Bay Area for Friday night's affair at SFSU. Both games are slated for 7:30 p.m. starts.
