UC Santa Cruz Athletics
Whitman vs. Chapman
Red Men Edge Banana Slugs in Overtime
11/29/2014 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
SANTA CRUZ, CA -- Jared Ponce scored thirteen points but the Banana Slugs could not overcome the Red Men of Carthage College as the Red Men won 54-53 in overtime. The game was a part of the UCSC Thanksgiving Classic at Kaiser Permanente Arena.
Both teams were coming off losses in their last contest. UC Santa Cruz lost 68-37 to Chapman on Friday in Santa Cruz and Carthage lost 84-49 to Washington University of St. Louis on Friday in Santa Cruz.
The Red Men would score the first four points of the game as Cameron Van Wyk scored two layups. The Red Men would have their largest lead of the half at six on three occasions, the third coming at 19-13 with 7:21 left in the half on a Scott McNellis jumper. The Banana Slugs would tie the game at 19-19 with 1:59 left on a Kyle Creighton three pointer. The Red Men would add a Mike Kastel layup and a Reese Herth three pointer before the end of the half to take a 24-19 lead into the halftime intermission.
In the second half, the Red Men would gain their largest lead of the game at seven on two occasions, the second coming with 14:57 left, at 32-25, on an Ellis Matthews layup. The Banana Slugs would methodically chip away at the lead and would tie the game with 3:56 left at 44-44 on a Tre Weston layup. The Banana Slugs would take the lead at 48-46 with 1:49 on a Weston put-back slam after a missed Matthew Ponce layup. After a Matthew Ponce free throw to give the Banana Slugs a 49-46 lead with fifty seven seconds left, Herth would tie the game with a three pointer with forty-two seconds left. The Banana Slugs would have two opportunities to win the game but could not convert and the game would go to overtime tied at 49-49.
In the overtime frame, the Banana Slugs would gain their largest lead of the game at 53-49 with 2:43 left on after two Jared Ponce free throws. The Red Men would convert three free throws, two from Herth and one from Van Wyk to make the score 53-52 in favor of UC Santa Cruz with 1:13 left. After James Townsend missed a three pointer, Van Wyk would make a layup to give the Red Men the lead for good at 54-53. Townsend would miss a three pointer with ten seconds left but Donte Logan, for the Red Men, would miss two free throws to give the Banana Slugs another shot at the win. It was not meant to be, however, as Jared Ponce's potential game winning three pointer was blocked by Logan. The Red Men won 54-53.
Jared Ponce led the Banana Slugs with thirteen points. Herth had a game high nineteen points for the Red Men. Weston had ten points for the Banana Slugs in the loss. Van Wyk had fifteen points for the Red Men.
The Banana Slugs shot 34.5% (19-55) from the field, 17.4% (4-23) from the three point line and was 61.1% (11-18) from the free throw line. The Red Men shot 43.5% (20-46) from the field, 41.2% (7-17) from the three point line and 46.7% (7-15) from the foul line. UC Santa Cruz's defense forced twenty one Red Men turnovers scoring twenty eight points off the turnovers while the Red Men defense forced thirteen turnovers by UC Santa Cruz scoring five points off the turnovers. Carthage outrebounded UC Santa Cruz 41-30 but the Banana Slugs had fourteen more points (20-6) off the bench than did the Red Men.
The Banana Slugs will finish up the UCSC Thanksgiving Classic on Sunday as they take on Whitman College at Kaiser Permanente Arena. Tipoff is set for 1 pm.
