TACOMA, Wash. – The UC Santa Cruz men's basketball team gritted out an 81-79 comeback victory over the Pacific Lutheran Lutes on Saturday night in Washington. The Lutes struck first and carried a seven point lead into halftime, but the Slugs rallied in the second half to defeat Pacific Lutheran in thrilling fashion. Zino Okah and Andrew Ferrara-Jones both ended the night with 16 points while Caden Breznikar and Joseph Espy had 14 and 13, respectively. UC Santa Cruz will get just a few hours of rest as they'll be back in action tomorrow at 2:00 p.m. when they travel to Puget Sound.
 
How It Happened
The Banana Slugs jumped out to an early 7-4 advantage thanks to seven points from Zino Okah in the opening two minutes and 49 seconds of action. The Lutes managed to respond quickly and take the lead at 15-10 with an 11-3 run that lasted just over three minutes. A Ben Lim layup brought the run to an end, sparking a counterattack for UCSC that saw them pull within three points at 25-22 with Ryan Wilson connecting from downtown with 8:47 remaining in the first half to cap off the run. From there, the Lutes put on the pressure, using a 13-5 run to expand their lead to 38-27 with 2:05 left in the half. The Slugs outscored Pacific Lutheran 8-4 down the stretch with five points from Caden Breznikar and three from Hunter Kennedy to cut the deficit to 42-35 at the halftime break.
 
Pacific Lutheran struck first out of the halftime break but the Slugs gained momentum with a 16-9 run to start the second half with Andrew Ferrara-Jones leading the charge with six points while Miles Burrows dropped in the tying basket to make it 51-51 with 13:02 on the clock. The Lutes quickly responded, using a 5-0 run to regain the lead at 56-51 but UCSC had a response of their own, using an 8-4 run to cut the PLU lead to 60-59 with 9:20 remaining in the contest.
 
The two teams traded buckets, both recording seven points to work to a 67-66 Pacific Lutheran lead with 6:48 to play in regulation. The Lutes managed to take a five point lead at 71-66 thanks to a three pointer and two free throws. PLU continued to add to their lead, working to a 77-68 lead with back to back threes with 4:53 to play. From there, the Banana Slugs made their move down the home stretch, using a scorching 13-2 run to jump into the lead at 81-79 with 1:24 remaining as Joe Espy scored five points with Ian McCloskey and Andrew Ferrara-Jones both recording three while Caden Breznikar added two. Ferrera-Jones had the highlight from the surge, hitting the eventual game-winning three to put UC Santa Cruz on top late in the contest.
 
The final moments of the contest had fans on the edge of their seats as the Slugs and Lutes both came up empty on possessions with just under a minute left on the clock before the Slugs went to the free throw line with 15 seconds left. The free throw was missed, giving the Lutes one more chance as they snagged the rebound and put up a three at the buzzer that was just off the mark, giving the Slugs the comeback 81-79 victory over PLU.