SALISBURY, Md. – The UC Santa Cruz men's basketball team went toe to toe with the No. 8 Christopher Newport Captains in the Coast-To-Coast Men's Basketball Semifinal match on Friday afternoon at Salisbury University. The Banana Slugs got off to a slow start but managed to storm back into the contest, taking a two point lead into halftime but the Captains prevailed, handing the Slugs an 84-78 loss in the end. Ian McCloskey led all scorers with 19 points, shooting 3-3 from downtown and 6-7 from the field. Zino Okah and Caden Breznikar both recorded 13 points with Okah grabbing seven boards.
 
How It Happened
The Banana Slugs got off to a slow start as the Captains started the C2C Semifinal on a 9-2 run in the opening three minutes of action. CNU managed to extend their lead to 14-6 but the Slugs were quick to fire back, using an 8-0 run to tie things at 14-14 with baskets from Miles Burrows, Ian McCloskey, and Joseph Espy. The Slugs turned the 8-0 run into a 14-0 run with three pointers from Ian McCloskey and Zino Okah, putting UC Santa Cruz on top 20-14 with 9:09 left in the first. The remaining nine minutes of action in the first half were action packed as CNU outscored UCSC 21-17, but the Banana Slugs stayed on top, going into the halftime break with a 37-35 lead. McCloskey and Andrew Ferrara-Jones were key for the Slugs in the last nine minutes of action in the first half with McCloskey recording nine points with Ferrara-Jones chiming in for five.
 
Out of the halftime break, CNU struck first with two free throws to tie things at 37-37. From there, the contest featured back and forth action with lead change after lead change with neither team leading by more than two points until a Ryan Wilson three gave UCSC a three point lead at 57-54 with 11:17 on the clock. UC Santa Cruz briefly maintained their three point advantage at 59-56 and later extended the lead to 63-58 with a quick four points from Zino Okah with 9:01 on the clock. Christoper Newport turned up the intensity down the stretch, using a 12-5 run to go on top 70-68 with just under five minutes remaining in regulation. CNU continued to hold the lead, extending the gap to 75-70 but two Joseph Espy free throws cut the deficit to three points at 75-72 with 3:19 left to play. The Slugs managed to pull within two points at 80-78 with 23 seconds on the clock thanks to six points from Ian McCloskey. The Captains prevailed in the end as they closed out the C2C Semifinal on a 4-0 run with four made free throws to defeat UC Santa Cruz 84-78.