Box Score SANTA CRUZ, CA -- UC Santa Cruz started their 2015 portion of their schedule Wednesday night as they took on NAIA Division II member Pacific Union College at Kaiser Permanente Arena. The Banana Slugs rode a strong first half performance to a 65-60 victory over the visiting Pioneers.
UC Santa Cruz was coming off a 68-57 victory over University of Redlands in Santa Cruz on December 30th while Pacific Union was coming off a 91-50 loss to Hope International University on Saturday in Fullerton.
The Banana Slugs would start fast with a 19-4 run, capped by a Matthew Ponce layup with 11:44 left in the half. The Banana Slugs would gain their largest lead of the ballgame at sixteen, at 22-6, on an Ilan Zur three pointer with 9:42 left in the half. The Pioneers would trim the Banana Slugs' lead to seven on two occasions; the second coming with thirty two seconds left, at 30-23, on a Jordan Greenwell jumper. The Banana Slugs would lead 30-23 at the halftime intermission.
The Pioneers would start the second half on a 7-1 run, capped by a Jarron Crump layup, to make the score 31-30 with 16:44 left. The Banana Slugs would respond with a 12-1 run of their own, capped by a pair of Matthew Ponce free throws, to make the score 43-31 with 13:14 left. The Pioneers would cut into the Banana Slugs' lead and would tie the game at 49-49 with 6:16 left. The Pioneers would take the lead at 54-52, their largest lead of the game, on an Anthony Gonzalez three pointer with 4:43 left. The Banana Slugs would take the lead for good on their next possession on a James Townsend three pointer to make the score 55-54 with 4:12 left. The Banana Slugs would make eight free throws down the stretch as the Banana Slugs won 65-60.
Jared Ponce had fifteen points for the Banana Slugs. Crump had a game high twenty two points for the Pioneers. Townsend had twelve points and Matthew Ponce had eleven points in the win. Gurpreet Sangha had nine points for the Pioneers.
The Banana Slugs shot 42.5% (17-40) from the field, 45% (9-20) from the three point line and was 71% (22-31) from the free throw line. The Pioneers shot 34.9% (22-63) from the field, 21.4% (3-14) from the three point line and 65% (13-20) from the foul line. UC Santa Cruz's defense forced twelve Pioneer turnovers scoring fourteen points off the turnovers while the Pioneers' defense forced nineteen turnovers by UC Santa Cruz scoring fifteen points off the turnovers. Pacific Union outrebounded UC Santa Cruz 40-38 but the Banana Slugs had sixteen more points (29-13) off the bench than did the Pioneers.
The Banana Slugs will have less than twenty four hours to prepare for their next game. The Banana Slugs will take on NAIA Division I member Westmont College on Thursday at Kaiser Permanente Arena. Tipoff is set for 7 pm.
