STOCKTON, Calif. - Anthony Ballestero and Drew Dyer combined for nine three pointers to help lead the 23rd-ranked UC San Diego men's basketball team to a 72-65 win against No. 22 Cal Poly Pomona in a California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) Tournament semifinal at Stockton Arena Friday.
Second-seeded UCSD (22-6) advances to take on Humboldt State (20-8), the tournament's fourth seed, Saturday for the tourney championship and the league's automatic berth into the NCAA postseason.
Cal Poly Pomona (22-7) scored the first point of the game on a free throw, but Ballestero answered with the first of his four treys and the Tritons led the rest of the way.
Ballestero finished with a career- and game-high 16 points. The sophomore guard also had three rebounds, two assists and a steal.
Dyer, a senior forward, totaled 15 points, all on three pointers. He also chipped in with seven boards, five assists and a steal.
Junior guard Adam Klie tallied the fifth double-double of his season with 13 points and 10 rebounds. He was 6-for-12 from the field and collected four assists.
UC San Diego shot 42.1 percent (24-57) overall and 82.4 percent (14-17) from the free throw line. The Tritons made 10 of their 33 three point shots (30.3 percent).
UCSD led by as many as 10 points in the first half and held a 32-24 advantage at the break.
The Tritons pushed their lead to 14 points on several occasions in the second stanza, the final time coming when Klie hit a three to make it 66-52 with 4:06 left on the clock. The Broncos cut it to six after a three pointer by Quentin Taylor with just four ticks remaining, but it was too little, too late.
CPP out-scored UCSD 41-40 in the second half.
Cal Poly Pomona was led offensively by Jordan Ogundiran's 14 points. Taylor followed with 13 points and Jordan Faison had 12. Chris Sullivan grabbed a team-best eight rebounds.
The Broncos improved their shooting to 41.5 percent (22-53) for the game after hitting at just a 36 percent (9-25) clip in the first half.
It was the third time this season that the Tritons had defeated the Broncos.
UCSD is now 6-3 all-time in CCAA Tournament games. The last time the team advanced to the final was in 2008, when the Tritons went on to win the title.
Humboldt State earned its chance to play for a championship by defeating Cal State LA, 79-54, in Friday's early semifinal.
UCSD and HSU split the two-game regular season series this year. In La Jolla, the Lumberjacks rolled to an 82-72 victory. On the road in Arcata, the Tritons earned 73-69 decision.
Saturday's championship game, which tips at 5 p.m., will be covered by live video and live stats. For complete information, visit the tournament central page.
#TritonsRising
