PUEBLO, Colo. - Daniel Pierce scored a game-high 19 points to lead host Colorado State University-Pueblo to a 61-43 victory over UC San Diego Saturday night on the final day of the 2009 Al Kaly Shrine Classic. The ThunderWolves outscored UCSD 11-0 during an eight-minute stretch in the first half and the Tritons never recovered.
Junior guard Casey Ryan scored 12 points on 5-of-6 shooting and hauled in a game-high 11 rebounds, but it wasn't enough for the Tritons, who fell to 0-2 after dropping a 71-63 overtime decision to Western State College on Friday.
Leading 15-8 at the 11:25 mark of the opening period, CSU-Pueblo (1-0) held UCSD scoreless over the next eight minutes to extend its lead to 26-8 with three minutes left in the half. Jay Wey then hit two free throws and Dylan Bohanan nailed a three-pointer to bring the Tritons to within 13, but Pierce responded with a layup at the other end and the ThunderWolves took a 30-16 lead into the locker room at the break.
The Tritons hit just 4-of-19 shots in the first half, 21%, while the TunderWolves connected on 12-of-33 attempts, 36%. CSU-Pueblo had 12 first half steals leading to 16 points.
UCSD cut the deficit to just nine following two free throws from Jordan Lawley 2:18 into the second half, but Marc Williams answered with a three-point play and Pierce drained a triple to push the lead to 37-24 with 16:15 remaining.
The Tritons were able to trim the ThunderWolves' advantage to single digits once again, pulling within 46-37 at the 9:23 mark, but CSU-Pueblo got consecutive baskets from Chris Busch to stem the tide.
The ThunderWolves took their largest lead of 57-39 four minutes later and held on to win by that same margin.
"We really went cold for a while in the first half and they took advantage," head coach Chris Carlson said. "I thought we had a couple of opportunities to really cut into their lead in the second half, but they had the answer each time we made a run. You've got to give them credit. They had a great defensive effort on their home floor and we never really got into much of a rhythm offensively."
Pierce hit 5-of-8 shots from the field, including 3-of-6 from the three-point line, to lead all scorers in just 22 minutes off the bench. He also pulled down six rebounds. Busch scored 12 points and hauled in 10 boards, while Williams also scored 12 for the ThunderWolves.
After scoring 21 points against Western State on Friday, Lawley struggled to find his shot against CSU-Pueblo, finishing just 2-of-11 from the field for nine points. Bohanan was one of the bright spots for the Tritons, scoring seven points in 15 minutes.
Colorado State-Pueblo shot 39% (21-53) for the game, including 45% in the second half. UCSD shot just under 32% (15-47). The ThunderWolves finished with 17 steals and outscored UCSD 25-9 in points off turnovers.
The Tritons will now take the next 12 days to prepare for defending conference champion Cal State San Bernardino in their California Collegiate Athletic Association opener on December 4 in San Bernardino.
