Friday, November 15
7:00 PM
UC Santa Cruz Athletics
2-2,0-0C2C
95
vs
101
Pomona-Pitzer
2-0,0-0SCIAC
1st quarter1
2nd quarter2
OT 1 quarterOT 1
FinalF
Pomona-Pitzer
47
39
15
101
UC Santa Cruz
41
45
9
95
Slugs Suffer Overtime Loss to Pomona-Pitzer
11/16/2024 12:24:00 AM | Men's Basketball
SANTA CRUZ, Ca. – The UC Santa Cruz men's basketball team suffered their second overtime loss to a SCIAC opponent this season as they dropped a tight 101-95 overtime game to Pomona-Pitzer on Friday night. Joseph Espy led the team with 28 points and six rebounds with Zino Okah recording 27 points and five rebounds. UCSC shot 45.9% from the field, 36.1% from downtown and made 14 of their 17 free throws. The Slugs will return to action on Sunday when they host Lewis & Clark at 2:00 p.m.
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How It Happened
The Slugs struck first and never looked back in the opening five minutes of action as they built a 16-6 lead with baskets from Andrew Ferrara-Jones, Zino Okah, Ian McCloskey, and Joseph Espy. A Pomona-Pitzer run brought the game to a 19-19 tie with 11:48 left in the first half but UCSC quickly responded to regain their lead at 27-19. The Sagehens responded shortly after, taking the lead briefly at 28-27 before pushing to a 35-30 lead with 5:39 left in the half. UCSC hung with the Sagehens, trailing by six points to go into the halftime break.
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UC Santa Cruz outscored Pomona-Pitzer 45-39 in the second half but didn't get their attack going until later in the half as PP increased their lead to eight points at 59-51 with 14:46 remaining in regulation. A three from Caden Breznikar and two free throws from Espy cut the Sagehens lead to just one point at 59-58. The contest remained close from that point on with neither team leading by more than three points until a jumper from Espy with 3:58 left put UCSC up 83-79. The Slugs fell behind 84-83 but a Ryan Wilson three with 1:40 on the clock put UCSC back up 86-84. After a late foul, the Sagehens made two free throws and tied the contest 86-86, serving as the score that would take us into overtime.
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Unfortunately for UCSC, the Sagehens scored first and didn't slow down as they rebuilt their lead to as much as nine points before handing UCSC a 101-95 loss.
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How It Happened
The Slugs struck first and never looked back in the opening five minutes of action as they built a 16-6 lead with baskets from Andrew Ferrara-Jones, Zino Okah, Ian McCloskey, and Joseph Espy. A Pomona-Pitzer run brought the game to a 19-19 tie with 11:48 left in the first half but UCSC quickly responded to regain their lead at 27-19. The Sagehens responded shortly after, taking the lead briefly at 28-27 before pushing to a 35-30 lead with 5:39 left in the half. UCSC hung with the Sagehens, trailing by six points to go into the halftime break.
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UC Santa Cruz outscored Pomona-Pitzer 45-39 in the second half but didn't get their attack going until later in the half as PP increased their lead to eight points at 59-51 with 14:46 remaining in regulation. A three from Caden Breznikar and two free throws from Espy cut the Sagehens lead to just one point at 59-58. The contest remained close from that point on with neither team leading by more than three points until a jumper from Espy with 3:58 left put UCSC up 83-79. The Slugs fell behind 84-83 but a Ryan Wilson three with 1:40 on the clock put UCSC back up 86-84. After a late foul, the Sagehens made two free throws and tied the contest 86-86, serving as the score that would take us into overtime.
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Unfortunately for UCSC, the Sagehens scored first and didn't slow down as they rebuilt their lead to as much as nine points before handing UCSC a 101-95 loss.
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Team Stats
PP
UCSC
FG%
.532
.459
3FG%
.458
.361
FT%
.857
.824
RB
38
33
TO
13
10
STL
5
9
Game Leaders
Pts
28
FGM
9
3FGM
0
FTM
10
Pts
10
FGM
4
3FGM
2
FTM
0
Pts
10
FGM
3
3FGM
2
FTM
2
Players Mentioned
Wing
/ Men's BasketballCenter/Forward
/ Men's BasketballGuard
/ Men's Basketball
Guard
/ Men's BasketballGuard
/ Men's Basketball
