Tuesday, February 13
Kaiser Permanente Arena
7:00 PM
UC Santa Cruz Athletics
10-14,1-0C2C
65
vs
76
Academy of Art
16-7,11-4PacWest
1
2
F
Academy of Art
29
47
76
UC Santa Cruz
36
29
65
Kessinger led UCSC in scoring in his last home game
Photo by: Alexa Feuer
Banana Slugs drop Senior Day thriller
2/14/2024 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
It was a tale of two halves on Senior Night as UC Santa Cruz men's basketball fell to Division II Academy of Art 76-65 Tuesday night at Kaiser Permanente Arena.
The Banana Slugs fell to 10-14 after their third consecutive loss to a Division II opponent.
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The team honored Nelson Etuk, Tyler Kessinger and Treyson Keating before their final home game. The game opened perfectly for UC Santa Cruz, who were up 11-3 after five minutes. The lead grew to as much as 17 after Etuk was fouled converting a layup, missed the ensuing free throw but got the rebound and fed Zino Okah for a three-pointer. That made the score 32-15 with seven minutes left before halftime and sent the home crowd into a frenzy. The Banana Slugs weathered a comeback and forced the Urban Knights into a shot clock violation to hold a 36-29 at the break.
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The Urban Knights found their scoring touch in the second half, however. They opened with a 12-5 run in the first 4:04 to tie it at 41-41 after forcing three Banana Slug turnovers.
The back-and-forth game stayed within two possessions, but the Urban Knights closed with a 16-7 run in the last five minutes to pull off the road win.
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Kessinger had 17 points to lead UC Santa Cruz. Okah had 12 and Joseph Espy scored 10 points along with a team-high nine rebounds.
Academy of Art (16-7) was led by Quintin Metcalf, who scored 23 of his game-high 31 points in the second half.
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The Banana Slugs will find out on Monday who they will play in the Coast-To-Coast Conference tournament, which begins February 22nd in Fredericksburg Virginia.
The Banana Slugs fell to 10-14 after their third consecutive loss to a Division II opponent.
Â
The team honored Nelson Etuk, Tyler Kessinger and Treyson Keating before their final home game. The game opened perfectly for UC Santa Cruz, who were up 11-3 after five minutes. The lead grew to as much as 17 after Etuk was fouled converting a layup, missed the ensuing free throw but got the rebound and fed Zino Okah for a three-pointer. That made the score 32-15 with seven minutes left before halftime and sent the home crowd into a frenzy. The Banana Slugs weathered a comeback and forced the Urban Knights into a shot clock violation to hold a 36-29 at the break.
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The Urban Knights found their scoring touch in the second half, however. They opened with a 12-5 run in the first 4:04 to tie it at 41-41 after forcing three Banana Slug turnovers.
The back-and-forth game stayed within two possessions, but the Urban Knights closed with a 16-7 run in the last five minutes to pull off the road win.
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Kessinger had 17 points to lead UC Santa Cruz. Okah had 12 and Joseph Espy scored 10 points along with a team-high nine rebounds.
Academy of Art (16-7) was led by Quintin Metcalf, who scored 23 of his game-high 31 points in the second half.
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The Banana Slugs will find out on Monday who they will play in the Coast-To-Coast Conference tournament, which begins February 22nd in Fredericksburg Virginia.
Team Stats
ARTU
UCSC
FG%
.412
.441
3FG%
.278
.294
FT%
.750
.615
RB
38
39
TO
11
21
STL
10
6
Game Leaders
Pts
17
FGM
7
3FGM
3
FTM
0
Pts
10
FGM
3
3FGM
0
FTM
4
Pts
8
FGM
4
3FGM
0
FTM
0
Players Mentioned
Center/Forward
/ Men's BasketballGuard
/ Men's Basketball
Forward
/ Men's BasketballGuard
/ Men's Basketball
