CHICO, Calif. - The UC San Diego men's basketball team surrendered the first 10 points of the second half and ultimately dropped a 58-42 decision to host Chico State on Saturday night at Acker Gymnasium. Roderick Hawkins scored 14 points and grabbed eight rebounds to lead the Wildcats, while
Jordan Lawley scored a game-high 17 for the Tritons.
Chico State outscored UCSD 32-16 in the final 20 minutes to improve to 14-9 overall and 10-8 in the California Collegiate Athletic Association with four games remaining. The Wildcats have won three straight and currently sit in fifth place in the league standings. Saturday's victory clinched the program's first winning season since the 2004-05 campaign.
UCSD was aiming for a three-game winning streak as well, but it wasn't meant to be, as the Tritons hit just 6-of-27 shots after halftime. Head coach Chris Carlson's squad falls to 6-14 overall and 5-12 in the CCAA. UCSD has now lost eight of its 10 road games this season.
Hawkins went just 4-for-11 from the field, but converted all five of his free throws to pace the Wildcats, who shot 38.5% (20-52) for the game. Jon Baird finished with 11 points on 4-of-8 shooting and sank three three-pointers.
Lawley paced the Tritons for the 14th time in 15 games, dropping 6-of-16 shots from the field in 34 minutes. Christian Hatch went 3-of-5 from the floor en route to 10 points, while also bringing down four rebounds. Lawley and Hatch combined to score 27 of UCSD's 42 points in the game.
UCSD led 17-15 with 7:52 remaining in the opening half, but Chico rattled off nine unanswered points to take a 24-17 advantage with 5:12 left. The Tritons responded with a run of their own, outscoring the Wildcats 9-2 over the final 4:12 to tie the game at 26 at the break. Lawley scored five points during the spurt, draining a long three and sinking two at the line to give UCSD the momentum heading into the locker room.
The momentum didn't last long, as Terence Pellum scored seven points and Damario Sims knocked down a triple for the Wildcats to open the second half, giving the home team a 36-26 advantage. Lawley stopped the bleeding with a layup on the Tritons' next trip, but Chico scored the next six points to make it 42-28 with 14 minutes remaining.
UCSD closed to within six on a jumper by Hatch with 8:28 left on the clock, but a Jay Flores three sparked a 16-4 Chico run that gave the Wildcats their biggest lead (58-40) and put the game away.
After holding Cal State Stanislaus to just 48 points in an eight-point victory on Friday, it was the Triton offense that struggled on Saturday, shooting just 36% (16-45) for the game. UCSD missed 10 of its final 14 shots and finished at a woeful 27% in the decisive second stanza.
The Tritons will now come home to face Cal State East Bay on Tuesday night, before traveling to San Francisco State and Cal State Monterey Bay next weekend. Tipoff for Tuesday's contest with the Pioneers is slated for approximately 7:30 p.m.
