UCSC Drops Tightly Contested Midweek Match with No. 14 CNU

Thursday, January 29

Newport News, Va.

4:00 PM PT

UC Santa Cruz Athletics

12-8

Christopher Newport University

17-3

UC Santa Cruz

Chris. Newport

1/29/2026 10:16:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

NEWPORT NEWS, Va. - The UC Santa Cruz men's basketball team saw its six-game winning streak come to an end, falling to No. 14 Christopher Newport 71-64 on Wednesday evening at the Freeman Center. Ben Lim led the team with 17 points on 7-of-13 shooting while Joseph Espy ended the night with 15 points and seven rebounds, adding four blocks and three assists. Notably, Espy became the 12th player in program history to surpass 1,000 points and the seventh player in program history to tally over 500 rebounds in his career. The Banana Slugs will face off against the Regent University Royals on Friday, January 30th, in Virginia.

How It Happened

UCSC came out firing, jumping to a 6-0 lead after Hunter Kennedy scored the game's first bucket on a jumper following back-to-back scores from Ben Lim. The Banana Slugs extended their lead to 10-4 after a Leo Wagner jumper assisted by Lim with 14:36 left in the half. Thomas Conley added a layup to push the lead to 14-8 before Christopher Newport began chipping away.

The Captains tied the game at 18-18, but UCSC responded with back-to-back three-pointers from Lim to build a 24-18 advantage with 4:32 remaining. Wagner added a three-pointer to make it 27-25, but the Banana Slugs went into the locker room trailing 29-27 at the half.
Christopher Newport extended their lead early in the second half, but Conley hit a three-pointer to pull UCSC within one at 32-33. The Captains then built their largest lead of the game at 17 points with 10:43 remaining.

The Banana Slugs refused to go away, mounting a furious comeback. Espy converted a pair of free throws to make it 38-53, then added a layup assisted by Lim to cut it to 40-55. Wagner knocked down a three-pointer assisted by Aidan Carleson to trim the deficit to 45-57, and Espy continued his strong second half with another layup to make it 47-57.

Carleson scored on a layup and converted a free throw to pull UCSC within nine at 50-59. Lim scored on a layup assisted by Carleson, then hit a three-pointer assisted by Wagner to cut the deficit to six at 55-61 with 4:44 remaining. Conley converted a pair of free throws to make it 57-61, and after a Wagner assist to Espy for a layup and free throw, the Banana Slugs were within two at 60-62.

Conley's layup, assisted by Espy made it a one-point game at 62-63 with 2:59 to play, and Espy's tip-in pulled UCSC within one again at 64-65 with 1:22 remaining. Despite multiple opportunities in the final minute, the Banana Slugs couldn't complete the comeback, falling 71-64.