SAN BERNARDINO, Calif. ? The UC San Diego men's basketball team could not slow down the CCAA's top team Friday night, dropping a 74-59 decision to Cal State San Bernardino at Coussoulis Arena. The Coyotes shot 44% from the field and converted 25-of-26 free throws to hand the Tritons their second consecutive defeat in conference play.
San Bernardino, which entered the game with a half game lead over UCSD for first place in the league standings, improves to 7-5 overall and 5-1 in the CCAA with the victory. UCSD falls to 6-5 overall and 3-2. After winning their first three games to open conference play, the Tritons have now lost two straight to fall two games out of the conference lead.
Tim Denson scored a game-high 16 points and Brandon Brown added 15 to lead four players in double figures for the Coyotes. Denson was just 2-of-6 from the field but hit all 11 of his free throws and Brown finished 5-of-11 from the floor and 5-of-5 at the stripe.
Lawrence Tyson hit 4-of-5 from behind the three-point arc and finished with 14 points, while Devin Montgomery added 10 points off the bench.
Jordan Lawley finished 4-of-11 from the field, including 3-of-5 from distance, and finished with 15 points to lead the Tritons, while
Shane Poppen scored 10 points on 4-of-5 shooting.
A.J. Maulhardt hauled in a game-high six rebounds and
Kelvin Kim dished out a season-high seven assists.
Trailing 43-30 with 15:33 remaining, UCSD used a 17-6 run over the next eight minutes to cut the deficit to just one, 48-47, following back-to-back triples from Lawley.
Montgomery then responded with a three of his own and Reggie Brown hit a triple, got fouled, and converted the four-point play to give the home team a 55-48 lead with 5:19 remaining. Denson followed with a three-point play, DuBois Williams connected from downtown, and Brandon Brown hit a jumper as San Bernardino scored 12 unanswered points to put the game away.
CSUSB hit 20-of-45 shots from the field, while UCSD was limited to just 39% shooting, 21-54.
The Coyotes held a slight 32-28 advantage on the glass, but scored 19 points off 10 Triton miscues. The biggest disparity came at the foul line where San Bernardino was +17 and set a new single game record for free throw accuracy at 96.2% for the game.
The Tritons will look to turn things around when they take on Cal Poly Pomona Saturday at 7:30 p.m.
