CLAREMONT, Ca. – The UC Santa Cruz men's basketball team defeated the Pomona-Pitzer Sagehens 67-58 in Voelkel Gymnasium. Joseph Espy picked up his third straight double double with 16 points and 12 rebounds while Leo Wagner added 14 points in the win. UC Santa Cruz will travel to the University of Southern California on December 21st at 1:00 p.m. in the Galen Center. This will be the first meeting between the Banana Slugs and the Trojans in men's basketball.
 
How It Happened
The Banana Slugs struck first with a three pointer from Ben Lim and never looked back as they jumped out to a 16-3 lead. The quick run saw buckets from Miles Burrows, Joseph Espy, and Leo Wagner who hit three straight shots from downtown. The Slugs maintained their double digit lead for much of the half, leading by as much as 14 at 18-4 but the Sagehens rallied with a 7-2 run to close the gap to 29-24 entering halftime.
 
The two teams battled early in the second half with UCSC using an 8-4 run to extend their lead to 37-28 with 17:14 left in the half. The Banana Slugs were able to keep pushing forward, going back up by double digits at 46-34 following baskets from Caden Breznikar and Jaden Gamez. Strong shooting down the stretch gave UCSC a 19 point lead as Miles Burrows hit a three with 5:07 left to play in the contest. From there, the Sagehens made a comeback attempt as they hit back to back threes to spark an 11-0 run to cut the lead eight at 63-55 with 2:41 remaining. The Banana Slugs held Pomona-Pitzer to just one more three as Joseph Espy hit a jumper and Thomas Conley made two free throws to secure the 67-58 victory.