LA JOLLA, Calif. - Jordan Lawley led all scorers with 26 points and
Jay Wey finished with a career-high 13 to lead the UC San Diego men's basketball team to an 81-72 victory over visiting Cal State Stanislaus in a CCAA matchup on Saturday night at RIMAC Arena. The UCSD offense had its best performance of the season and the Tritons withstood a second half rally by the Warriors to pick up their third win of the season.
UCSD improves to 3-7 overall and 2-4 in California Collegiate Athletic Association play with the victory, which snapped a three-game losing streak. The Tritons are now 2-1 on their home floor, where they will play six of their next eight games over the next month.
Cal State Stanislaus falls to 6-5 overall and 2-4 in the CCAA. The Warriors had won two straight entering Saturday's contest.
Lawley hit 6-of-12 shots from the field and sank 13-of-14 free throws to pace the Tritons for the fifth straight game. The Lodi, Calif. native also tied a career-high with 10 rebounds and dished out five assists. He has scored 20 or more in four out of UCSD's last five games.
Wey had his best game as a Triton, finishing 4-of-6 from the floor, including 3-of-5 from the three-point line, to reach double figures for the first time in his career. The sophomore guard had not scored more than five points in a game this season before Saturday.
The Tritons scored a season-high 81 points on 56.1% shooting from the floor, which was also a high mark for the year. UCSD converted 15-of-28 shots (54%) in the first half and 8-of-13 (62%) in the second and went 29-of-32 at the free throw line in a stellar offensive effort all around.
The team's previous high was 70 points in the win at Cal State East Bay on December 15.
UCSD led 42-28 1:23 into the second half before Cal Stat Stanislaus used a 14-4 run over the next four and a half minutes to pull within 46-42 with 14:06 left to play. Jordan Stokes' layup two minutes later cut the Tritons' lead to just two at 50-48, but
Tyler Acevedo and
Christian Hatch hit two free throws apiece to push the advantage back to six with 10:20 remaining.
The Warriors would trim the margin to just one on three occasions inside the 5:20 mark, but UCSD had the answers each time. After Chad Johnson made two at the line to bring the visitors to within 71-70, Wey made two free throws of his own and Lawley hit a midrange jumper to stem the tide and give UCSD a decisive five-point lead with 2:13 left.
Lawley then hit six free throws in the final 37 seconds to ice the game and give the Tritons the nine-point win.
"They really made a run at us in the second half, but we made some plays and we got to the free throw line down the stretch to weather the storm," head coach
Chris Carlson said. "We got a couple of big stops and Jordan really came through. It was good to get a win against a talented Stanislaus squad."
Johnson scored 21 points on 5-of-13 shooting to lead Stanislaus, while Stokes finished with 18. The Warriors shot 39% from the field for the game, converting 25-of-64 attempts.
UCSD was 6-of-14 from behind the arc, 43%, while CSUS finished 4-of-21, 19%. The Tritons were plus-11 at the free throw line and outscored the Warriors 33-13 in points off the bench.
UCSD is back in action next week when Cal State Monterey Bay and San Francisco State come to town. The Tritons will face the Otters on Thursday night at 7:30 p.m. at RIMAC Arena.
