Box Score PASADENA (11-21) –The Banana Slugs wrapped their weekend roadtrip to Southern California as they took on California Institute of Technology. The Banana Slugs outscored the Beavers by twelve in the second half and won 80-67 for their first victory of the season.
The Banana Slugs started the first half on a 16-6 run, capped by an
Avri Finch layup with 11:25 left in the half. The Banana Slugs would match the ten-point lead at 27-17, on a free throw by
Ian McCloskey with 3:30 left in the half. The Beavers however ended the half on a 12-3 run, capped by a Chase Pagon layup with two seconds remaining, to trim the Banana Slugs' lead to one at 30-29.
In the second half, the Beavers started the half on a 5-0 run, capped by a Pavlos Stavrinides layup with 19:15 left, to give the Beavers their largest lead of the ballgame at 34-30. The Banana Slugs would respond with an 8-1 run, capped by
Matthew McDonald's three-point play with 15:57 left, to give the Banana Slugs the lead for good at 38-35. The Banana Slugs led by nineteen on two occasions; the second occasion at 62-43 on a
Calvin Keyes layup with 6:15 left.
Ryan Silva had fifteen points to lead the Banana Slugs. Finch had thirteen including 9-10 on free throws, while
Tyler Kessinger had eleven off the bench. McCloskey and Keyes had ten each.
Marcus Gee had a game-high twenty-five for the Beavers.
The Banana Slugs shot 46.7% (21-45) from the field, 38.9% (7-18) from the three-point line and were 79.5% (31-39) from the free throw line. UC Santa Cruz's defense forced fourteen turnovers and scored seventeen points off the turnovers.
UC Santa Cruz outrebounded California Tech 36-35 and the Banana Slugs outscored the Beavers 25-7 in the points off the bench.
The Banana Slugs will start a four-game homestand as they host Chapman University Friday at 1pm in the UCSC Thanksgiving Classic at Kaiser Permanente Arena.
