VALLEJO, Ca. – The UC Santa Cruz men's basketball team picked up their fourth straight win with an 88-81 victory over the Cal Maritime Keelhaulers on Monday night. The Banana Slugs struck first and never looked back, leading by as much as 16 points while never relinquishing their advantage in the contest. Joseph Espy had another dominant night, dropping 27 points with 18 rebounds for his sixth double double this season while adding two assists, one block, and one steal. Ben Lim added 19 points while Thomas Conley and Leo Wagner chimed in for 11 each. The Banana Slugs are now 10-7 on the year and will be back in action on Jan. 17 at 7:00 p.m. when they travel to Simpson University.
 
How It Happened
The Banana Slugs led from the opening whistle as Joseph Espy logged a first half double double with 17 points and 12 rebounds in the opening 20 minutes. Ben Lim and Joseph Espy got the scoring started with both adding two points to give UCSC a quick 4-0 lead. Cal Maritime briefly closed the gap to 4-3 but six points from Espy along with a Thomas Conley three put the Slugs up 13-3 with 15:30 to play in the first half. The game balanced out but UCSC continued to outpace the Keelhaulers, using an 18-12 advantage to build their largest lead of the night at 31-15 with 8:35 to play in the half. Cal Maritime narrowed the gap to eight points at 33-25 following a 10-2 run but a UCSC 9-4 run but the Slugs back up by double digits at 42-29 with 2:43 left in the first half. UC Santa Cruz saw buckets from Espy, Hunter Kennedy, and Leo Wagner down the stretch to go up 50-36 at the halftime break.
 
Out of the halftime break, Cal Maritime used a 10-5 run to close the deficit to single digits at 55-46. The comeback attempt continued for the Keelhaulers as the closed the gap to six points at 59-53 Leo Wagner and Joseph Espy helped keep the team out in front at 65-57 with 13:05 left in the contest. Cal Maritime pulled within four points on two separate occasions, most notably at 67-63 but that would be the closest they'd get as UCSC pulled away in the final 12 minutes. Leo Wagner, Aidan Carleson, Joseph Espy, and Ben Lim all scored during a 9-0 run to put the Slugs on top 76-63. Cal Maritime managed to outscore UCSC 18-12 the rest of the way but their efforts fell short as the Banana Slugs earned the 88-81 victory on Monday night.