LA JOLLA, Calif. – Despite trailing by 16 points in the first half, the sixth-ranked UC San Diego men's basketball team rallied for a 76-73 victory over visiting Cal State East Bay Saturday night inside RIMAC Arena. With its fifth straight win, UC San Diego strengthened its spot atop the California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) standings at 7-1 while improving to 13-1 overall.
 
The Pioneers dropped their third straight CCAA contest and fell to 9-6 overall and 5-4 in the CCAA.
 
UC San Diego senior forward Scott Everman poured in a season-high 21 points and junior forward Marek Sullivan contributed a double-double with 12 points and a career-high 13 rebounds in the win. Junior guard Mikey Howell recorded his second straight double-double, with 14 points and 11 assists for the Tritons.

 

MONSTER MAREK ?? pic.twitter.com/Ow7mcw6WC5

— Triton Athletics (@UCSDtritons) January 5, 2020

UC San Diego got off to an uncharacteristically sluggish start, as the Pioneers ran out to a 12-2 lead at 15:35. The Pioneers continued to shoot well for much of the half – they connected on five of their first six 3-pointers – as they built a 24-8 lead with 11:03 remaining.
 
The Tritons settled in and started to hit some shots. Junior guard Gabe Hadley came off the bench and hit a couple of quick threes, and he finished the half with eight points as UC San Diego cut the deficit to 36-33 at the half.
 
With 14:42 to play, Hadley took a feed from Howell and buried a 3-pointer. That was Howell's 7th assist of the game and 300th in his career. He became the fifth player in UC San Diego's Division II history to record 300 career helpers, finishing the night with 304.
 

Congrats to Mikey Howell on his 300th career assist!

He's the fifth Triton in our D2 history to get that many.

(oh, and he's only a junior ??)#GoTritons pic.twitter.com/hk3HAarxQO

— UC San Diego Men's Hoops (@UCSDmbb) January 5, 2020

Howell found Everman who converted a layup with 13:22 on the clock, putting the Tritons in front for the first time in the game, 45-44. From that point UC San Diego never trailed. Up two with 8:02 on the clock. the Tritons went on a 9-2 run to go up 68-59 with 3:44 left.

The Pioneers had a chance to tie, but their three-pointer fell off as time expired.

The Tritons shot 49% for the night, while limiting the Pioneers to 39%. Rebounds were even at 33 apiece.

Next up for UC San Diego is a trip up north to Turlock to visit Stanislaus State on Thursday, Jan. 9. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.
 
About UC San Diego Athletics
With 30 national team championships, nearly 150 individual titles and the top student-athlete graduation rate among Division II institutions in the United States, the UC San Diego intercollegiate athletics program annually ranks as one of the most successful in the country.  The Tritons sponsor 23 intercollegiate sport programs that compete on the NCAA Division I and II levels and, in summer 2020, will transition into full Division I status as a member of the Big West Conference.  UC San Diego student-athletes exemplify the academic ideals of one of the world's preeminent institutions, graduating at an average rate of 91 percent.  A total of 82 Tritons have earned Academic All-America honors, while 37 have earned prestigious NCAA Post Graduate Scholarships.  In competition, more than 1,300 UC San Diego student-athletes have earned All-America honors.

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