SANTA CRUZ, CA -- Jared Ponce scored a game high twenty three points and UC Santa Cruz split their two games of the weekend long Holiday Inn Express Classic with a 59-50 win over Linfield College.

Both teams were coming off games against Whittier College. The Banana Slugs lost to the Poets 71-58 on Friday and the Wildcats beat the Poets 72-70 on a game winning three on Saturday. Both games were at Kaiser Permanente Arena. 

UC Santa Cruz would lead the game from the opening tipoff. The Banana Slugs would score the first seven points of the contest on two baskets by Jared Ponce and one by Kyle Creighton for a 7-0 lead with 16:57 left. The Wildcats would come as close as two, at 17-15, on a Jordan Clark layup with 8:24 left. The Banana Slugs would expand their lead to double digits, at 29-19, with 3:13 left on a Corey Cilia three pointer. The Wildcats would trim the Slugs' lead to five at 31-26 with forty seven seconds left on a Mason Rodby layup. The Slugs would add no points before the end of the half and the Slugs would lead 31-26 at the half. 

In the second half, the Slugs would hold their lead for the entire half. The Poets would cut the Slugs' lead to three early in the half, at 31-28, on a Connor Sende free throw with 18:57 left. The Slugs would expand their lead back to double digits, at 41-30, on a Tre Weston layup with 13:34 left. The Slugs would gain their largest lead of the ballgame at 53-39 with 4:57 left on a Jared Ponce free throw. The Wildcats would claw their way back into the game and come as close as six, at 56-50, with forty five seconds left after a Trevor Howard three pointer. The Banana Slugs would add three free throws, two from Jared Ponce and one from Marshall Arnwine Jr., for the final margin of 59-50. 

As previously mentioned, Jared Ponce had a game high twenty three points for the Banana Slugs. Ryan Potter had eleven points for the Wildcats. James Townsend had nine points for the Banana Slugs in the win. Ryan Cali had nine points for Linfield. 

The Banana Slugs shot 46.5% (20-43) from the field, 31.6% (6-19) from the three point line and was 54.2% (13-24) from the free throw line. The Wildcats shot 34.1% (15-44) from the field, 31.6% (6-19) from the three point line and 70% (14-20) from the foul line. UC Santa Cruz's defense forced nineteen Wildcat turnovers scoring twenty six points off the turnovers while the Wildcats' defense forced twelve turnovers by UC Santa Cruz scoring twelve points off the turnovers. Linfield outrebounded UC Santa Cruz 32-29 but the Banana Slugs had nine more points (28-19) in the paint than did the Wildcats.

The Banana Slugs will now have five days off before their next game. The Banana Slugs will host Chapman University on Friday at Kaiser Permanente Arena. Tipoff is set for 1 pm.