Junior center Kris Gallop scored six points and grabbed six rebounds Friday night vs. UC San Diego.
BOX SCORE
SEASIDE, Calif. — For 36 minutes of 40 minutes, the Cal State Monterey Bay men's basketball team blew out UC San Diego Friday night, out–scoring the Tritons by 15 points. But the other four minutes made all of the difference as UCSD used a lightning-quick 20-0 run late in the first half then held on for a 63–58 win in The Kelp Bed.
CSUMB (7-9, 3-6 CCAA) seemed to be cruising early, needing just 10 minutes to build a double-digit lead at 19-9. When a short
Brandon Ward (Riverside/Woodcrest HS) jumper pushed the lead back to 10 at 29-19 just before the final media timeout of the first half, Otter fortunes still looked bright.
But the CSUMB defense went on hiatus at that point, and UCSD punished the Otters from long range over the next 4:18, making five threes during the blitzkrieg that concluded with a Tyler McGrath longball and a 39-29 UCSD lead.
A late
Julian Ball (Citrus Heights/Sierra College) layup ended the run and sent the teams to the lockerroom at 39-31. UCSD never lead by more than eight again, but despite cutting the deficit to two points three times in the second half, but the Otters couldn't get over the hump.
The Otters did yeoman's work inside, converting a season-best 24-of-39 attempts inside the arc (61.5 percent). But they were a season-low 0-for-14 from three-point range, a number that all but blunted their comeback effort.
CSUMB had several chances to tie or take the lead in the final 75 seconds. The best came when a MacKenzie McCullough foul sent
Kris Gallop (Vallejo/Los Medanos College) to shoot a 1-and-1 with the score 58-56 and 31 seconds remaining, but Gallop missed the front end and UCSD made 3-of-4 from the line in the ensuing seven seconds to ice the game.
Individually, Ward led CSUMB with 18 points to climb within 39 of the Otter career scoring record. Senior forward
Kevin Loustale (Chico/Shasta College) added 10 points and a game-high eight rebounds. McGrath led all scorers with 20 points for UCSD (4-8, 3-6). James McCann added 16 points for the Tritons.
CSUMB will conclude its four-game homestand Saturday when it hosts Cal State San Bernardino in The Kelp Bed. Tip-off is schedule for 7:30 p.m. as the nightcap of men's/women's doubleheader action.
GO OTTERS!
