LA JOLLA, Calif. - Senior guard
Jordan Lawley scored a game-high 20 points to lift the UC San Diego men's basketball team to a 64-49 victory over visiting San Diego Christian College on Tuesday afternoon at RIMAC Arena. The Tritons took control with a 12-0 run early in the first half and led by as many as 19 in a successful home court debut.
UCSD improves to 2-4 overall with the win, while SDCC falls to 1-9. The Tritons have now won two straight after starting the season 0-4 and have gone 3-0 in their last three home openers.
Lawley finished 7-of-14 from the field and hit 5-of-6 from the foul line to reach the 20-point mark for the third time in six games this season. He also tallied four rebounds and two assists.
Sophomore center
Christian Hatch, who recorded his first career double-double in the win over Cal State East Bay last week, finished with seven points and seven rebounds against the Hawks, while freshman forward
Justin Brue added six points and 10 boards off the bench.
UCSD was excellent defensively once again, holding SDCC to just under 31% (17-55) shooting for the game. The Hawks made just eight field goals and shot 28% in the opening half as the Tritons raced out to an early lead.
UCSD shot 40%, converting 22-of-55 attempts from the field.
After the visitors scored the first five points of the game, the Tritons responded with 12 straight to take a seven-point lead with 12:22 left in the first half. Brue provided a spark immediately, nailing back-to-back jumpers to cap off the run and make it 12-7.
The Tritons took a 19-9 lead on a pair of free throws from
Tyler Acevedo with seven minutes remaining and
Dylan Bohanan's layup in transition made it 28-13 with 3:20 left in the half. Ben Chung hit a jumper for the Hawks with two seconds on the clock to bring SDCC within 32-20 at the break.
UCSD opened the second half on a 14-7 run to take its biggest lead at 46-27, but the Hawks would answer with nine straight points to pull within 46-36 with 10 minutes remaining. SDCC trimmed the deficit to just eight (52-44) on a three by Marquis Kennedy four minutes later, but Lawley answered with six straight points, including three free throws, and Brue drilled a jumper to push the lead back to 16 and seal the victory.
Kennedy scored 14 points off the bench to lead San Diego Christian, finishing 3-of-8 from the floor and 2-of-5 from the three-point line. Ahmed Abdelhamid scored eight points and hauled down a game-high 11 rebounds.
The Tritons will return to the court after the holidays when they travel to Los Angeles for a matchup with CCAA foe Cal State L.A. on January 2. Tipoff is scheduled for 3:00 p.m. at the Eagles Nest.
