SANTA CRUZ Simpson College was knocking on the door Wednesday night, but UCSC center Sandro Meallet slammed it shut.

Simpson trimmed UCSC's lead to 67-63 with three minutes to play, but then Meallet came up with the perfect rebuttal: eight of the Sea Lions' final dozen points. That, coupled with John Saint-ignon's 29 points and Tom Buffett's 12 points and 12 rebounds, lifted UCSC's men's basketball team to an 81-71 victory and gave the Sea Lions a 2-0 record in the Bay Area Intercollegiate Athletic Conference.

The Sea Lions had to overcome a 30-point effort by Simpson's Matt Colbert. The victory was UCSC's third in a row and set the stage for Saturday's 5:30 p.m. game at archrival College of Notre Dame in Belmont. "They've been playing Division II teams tough, so we have our work cut out for us," said UCSC Coach Mark Henry. "Simpson figured to not be in contention, and they put on a very gutty performance. We thought we'd walk right through them, but we had to struggle to win," Henry said. "It helped when our big guy, Meallet, knocked down eight of our last 12 points. He just took charge and Saintignon once again had his normal 29-point game (14 in the first half and 15 in the second). One of our big keys possibly the real key to the game was Buffett with his 12 points and 12 rebounds."
Meallet also dished out four assists, while Saintignon complemented his 29 points with six rebounds. The Sea Lions had four players in double figures Saintignon with 29, Bruno Baldini with 10, Meallet with 14 and Buffett with 12.