MERCED (2-16) UC Santa Cruz men's basketball took a hard-fought 54-47 loss to UC Merced (18-8) at the end of their last game of the season. It was the first time these two teams have played since the 2016-2017 season. The starters for this game were Ian McCloskey, Zino Okah, Avri Finch, Treyson Keating, and Eric Debrine.
 
The game started off with the Bobcats winning tip off and putting the first points on the board making the score 3-0 (18:50). However right after, Keating puts some points on the board now making the score 3-2 (17:48). Within the first five minutes, Bobcats scored consecutive shots making the score 10-2 (15:33). Okah made two 3-pointer shots within one minute span making the score 8-16 (13:27 and 12:34). Last minute of the half, McCloskey made the last shot of the game with a layup making the score 34-16 (0:59). Quarter ended with the Bobcats in the lead making the halftime score 34-16.
 
The Banana Slugs start off the the second half aggressively with high intensity. A foul made by the Banana Slugs gave the Bobcats the opportunity for the free-throw shots, scoring the first points for the second half (35-16, 19:16). Immediately after, Finch makes a layup (35-18, 18:50). McCloskey made an amazing play with a defensive block. A big run finished with Zach Granberry closed the scoreboard gap by scoring back to back 3-pointers, putting the Banana Slugs only seven points behind (45-52, 2:28). However, more fouls were called on UC Santa Cruz, which gave the Bobcats the chance to secure their lead and see out the game.
 
McCloskey scored the most points of the game with 14 points, while also getting 5 rebounds. Granberry (11 points) and DeBrine (7 points) also contributed greatly to the scoreboard with Granberry scoring all his points in the second half. Keating got the most rebounds of the game with 14.
 
This will conclude the 2022-2023 regular season for Men's Basketball. They will begin the C2C tournament at Kaiser Permanente Arena starting February 23rd.