A late Colorado College run broke open a close game and gave the visiting Tigers a 73-59 win over UC Santa Cruz Thursday at Kaiser Permanente Arena.
The Banana Slugs fell to 8-10 this season.

In front of a boisterous crowd celebrating Staff Appreciation Night, three ties were early before the Tigers took a 16-10 lead with 11:22 left in the first half. UC Santa Cruz answered with a 10-1 run and took a 20-17 lead on Ian McCloskey's three-pointer with 6:49 left. The Banana Slugs made their lead 26-22 when Nelson Etuk spun away from his defender and had a running slam dunk that sent the crowd into a frenzy.

UC Santa Cruz led 28-27 at halftime and pushed the lead to 40-31 on a McCloskey layup and another Etuk dunk after Tyler Kessinger stole the ball and found Etuk on the break. McCloskey hit a three-pointer to give the hosts a 49-44 lead with under nine minutes to play. However, the Tigers outscored UC Santa Cruz 29-10 the rest of the way to clinch the comeback win.

McCloskey led the Banana Slugs with 15 points. McCloskey also had team-highs of three assists and four of the team's 11 steals. Zino Okah added 11 points. Colorado College's Scott Ruegg led all players with 25 points.
The Banana Slugs have a week off before they travel east to face defending national champion Christopher Newport on Thursday, the 25th.