LA JOLLA, Calif. - The UC San Diego men's basketball team clinched a berth in the upcoming California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) Championship Tournament with a 72-58 victory over Cal State Dominguez Hills Friday at RIMAC Arena.
UCSD improved to 14-9 overall and 12-7 in the CCAA. CSUDH fell to 6-19 and 2-17.
With the top six teams qualifying for the league tourney, the Tritons are tied for third place with Cal State San Bernardino and Humboldt State with three regular season games remaining. Cal State Stanislaus is in sixth at 11-8, while Cal State Monterey Bay and Sonoma State are tied for seventh at 8-11.
UC San Diego put forth a balanced effort, shooting 44 percent (26-59) from the field and a stellar 94 percent (17-18) from the free throw line. The Tritons turned the ball over just eight times while forcing the Toros to lose it on 16 occasions. UCSD scored 19 points directly off of turnovers.
Though Dominguez Hills made 41 percent (17-42) of its shots overall, the Toros sunk just 19 of 30 free throws, 63 percent.
Hunter Walker scored the first points of the game on a jumper at 19:38 and the Tritons would never trail. CSUDH tied it once at 6-6 with 12:33 left in the first half, but a Jeff Van Dyke three-pointer on the next possession put UCSD up for the rest of the game.
The Tritons led 29-20 at halftime.
Adam Klie poured in a game-high 20 points. He was 8-for-11 from the floor and 4-for-4 from the free throw line. The sophomore guard from Alaska also collected six rebounds, two steals and an assist.
Three other Tritons finished in double figures including Walker (15), Drew Dyer (10) and Grant Jackson (10). Dyer had seven boards and Aleks Lipovic handed out six assists.
Cal State Dominguez Hills got 17 points out of Darnell Martin, while Justin Sadler had seven rebounds.
UC San Diego has won the last five meetings between the two squads, including a 70-50 victory on Jan. 17 in Carson.
UCSD hosts Cal State L.A. (9-14, 7-12) Saturday at 7:30 p.m. in its final home game of the season. The Golden Eagles lost, 70-50, at league-leading Cal Poly Pomona Friday. In Los Angeles on Jan. 16, the Tritons earned a 67-56 win against CSULA.
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