Espy Drops Double Double to Highlight Senior Night Victory

Saturday, February 14

Santa Cruz, Ca.

6:00 PM

UC Santa Cruz Athletics

14-9,0-0C2C

Cal Maritime

0-6

Cal Maritime

UC Santa Cruz

2/16/2026 1:53:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

SANTA CRUZ, Ca. – The UC Santa Cruz men's basketball team celebrated Senior Night with an 81-68 victory over Cal Maritime on Saturday evening at KP Arena. Senior Joseph Espy dominated inside with 24 points and 15 rebounds, while Ben Lim added 12 points and four assists. Fellow senior Caden Breznikar chipped in seven points, and Hunter Kennedy dished out six assists. The Banana Slugs improve to 14-9 on the season and will be back in action on Tuesday, February 24 when they host the University of Mary Washington at 6:00 p.m.

How It Happened
Joseph Espy opened the scoring with a layup assisted by Hunter Kennedy to give UCSC an early 2-0 lead. Thomas Conley knocked down a three-pointer on the fastbreak to push the lead to 5-2, and Ben Lim drilled back-to-back three-pointers assisted by Kennedy to extend the advantage to 11-7. Jaden Gamez connected from beyond the arc, assisted by Leo Wagner, and Ollie Miller added a tip-in to push the lead to 20-14. Miller hit another three-pointer, assisted by Miles Burrows, to make it 23-14, and Kennedy found Espy for a fastbreak layup to stretch it to 26-16. Espy continued to dominate inside with back-to-back layups, and Aidan Carleson added a fastbreak layup to give the Banana Slugs a 34-24 lead. Burrows converted a layup assisted by Wagner, and Wagner added a layup of his own as UCSC built a 38-26 advantage. Kennedy hit a pair of free throws, and Lim found Espy for another fastbreak layup before Espy's tip-in at the buzzer gave the Banana Slugs a commanding 46-31 lead at the half.

The Banana Slugs came out strong in the second half. Breznikar opened with a layup assisted by Kennedy, and Espy added another layup assisted by Lim to push the lead to 50-33. Breznikar drilled a three-pointer on the fastbreak to extend the advantage to 53-33. Espy converted a pair of free throws to make it 55-37, and Burrows knocked down a three-pointer assisted by Espy to push the lead to 60-44. Wagner scored on a layup to keep the cushion at 63-47, and Miller added a tip-in to make it 65-49. Conley converted a layup assisted by Lim, and Espy added another tip-in to push the lead back to 75-63. Lim sealed the victory at the free-throw line, converting all six of his attempts down the stretch, and Miller added a pair of free throws as the Banana Slugs cruised to an 81-68 victory.