UC Santa Cruz played No. 9 Christopher Newport close, but couldn't catch up with their new Coast-to-Coast Conference rival in a 66-56 loss Saturday night at Kaiser Permanente Arena.

The Banana Slugs (2-15) greatly improved defensively from 24 hours earlier, holding the Captains to 25 points in the first half and trailing just by nine at the break.
In the second half, UC Santa Cruz twice got within two possessions after a big CNU lead. Trailing by 16, UCSC went on a 17-6 run midway through the half to get within 42-37 with 9:22 left. The final seven points of the run came from Tyler Kessinger, punctuated with a pair of steals by Zino Okah. With UCSC within 47-42, CNU reeled off a 12-3 run to push their lead back to 14 at 59-45 with under three minutes left. Another scoring outburst from Kessinger got UCSC within six at 62-56 with :32 seconds left. However, CNU closed out the game for their 14th straight win and a sweep of their California roadtrip.

Kessinger hit a career-high 26 in the game, 23 coming in the second half. Avri Finch had 13 points and a team-high 6 rebounds. Both Finch and Kessinger had two steals each.
UCSC shot 51.6% in the second half from the field and 38.6% (22-57) overall. Trey Barber led the Captains with 20 points and 10 rebounds. Overall, CNU had a 41-31 rebound advantage.

The Banana Slugs next have a weekend roadtrip to southern California, beginning with a visit to West Coast Baptist on Saturday night.