SAN BERNARDINO, Calif. - The UC San Diego men's basketball team closed out its regular season Saturday with a 71-62 victory on the road at Cal State San Bernardino.
UCSD heads into postseason play at 16-10 overall and 14-8 in the California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA). The Tritons will be the fifth seed in the CCAA Championship Tournament and play fourth-seeded Cal State Stanislaus in the first round on March 5 (5:30 p.m.) at Stockton Arena in Stockton, Calif.
"It's great to finish the regular season with a win," said UCSD head coach Eric Olen. "We were able to withstand quite a bit of foul trouble and we had solid production from our bench."
UCSD shot 52.3 percent (23-44) from the field, a huge advantage over CSUSB's 30.0 percent (15-50) performance. The Tritons also held a substantial 32-22 lead in rebounding. As Olen noted, the Triton bench played a major factor, scoring 35 points.
UC San Diego led for almost the entire game. Down 4-2 with 18:36 left in the opening half, Aleks Lipovic hit a three-pointer to give the Tritons a 5-4 lead and they would not give it up for the rest of the night.
A 7-0 run in the waning minutes of the first half put UCSD up by 17, 36-19. The sequence was capped by a Zach McMillan dunk.
With 26 seconds remaining in the game, the Coyotes got within six points when a layup by Taylor Statham made the score 68-62 in favor of the Tritons. However, UCSD scored the final three points of the game on free throws.
Grant Jackson and Adam Klie each had 13 points to lead the Tritons. Hunter Walker finished with 10 points and one rebound shy of a double-double, while Lipovic handed out four assists.
Thomas had a game-high 17 points for the Coyotes and Gilbert Parga was just behind with 16.
CSUSB ended its regular season at 12-13 overall and 12-10 in the league.
In other CCAA tourney action, Humboldt State, the No. 3 seed, will take on sixth-seeded Cal State San Bernardino in Thursday's first round. The top two seeds - Chico State and Cal Poly Pomona - receive byes and advance directly to Friday's semifinals.
"We are playing well at the right time and are excited about the opportunity to compete in the CCAA Tournament," said Olen.
For complete tourney information, including ticket details, click here.
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