By Abdiel Aguayo |Staff Writer|
The visiting 13th ranked UC San Diego Tritons came to visit the Coussoulis Arena Feb. 6, giving the Coyotes men’s basketball team their third straight loss in a row.
This was a tough fought battle on both sides of the court, with neither team leading by more than nine points the entire contest.
The largest lead for the Coyotes was only seven with 17:43 remaining in the first half. The Tritons’ largest lead was by a mere nine points with 3:02 left before halftime.
Statistically, both teams had strong points and weak points.
The Coyotes had a great push from their bench scoring almost 10 more points than the Tritons’ bench.
UC San Diego dominated the inside with 10 more points scored from behind the three-point line and scored more points off of turnovers.
Luckily, the Coyotes took the Tritons by surprise, coming out of the gate ready to play and to get to a quick start. CSUSB kept the lead for almost 10 minutes in the first half.
It was not until after five minutes into the game that UC San Diego got their first five points. Once the Tritons took the lead at the 10:14 mark, they would not give it up for the rest of the half; ending the half with a lead of seven points and a score of 38-31.
Everett Turner started off the second half with a three-point bucket. However, this would be one of few to fall in for the Coyotes. Not one player shot over 50 percent from beyond the arc.
Turner finished the game with 10 points, two assists, and three steals.
There were three other Coyotes who scored in double figures. Juan Martinez had 11 points, as well as two steals. Anthony January finished with a game high of 16 points and 2 blocks. Desi Barmore had 15 points, three assists, three blocks, and made 75 percent of his shots for the night.
The opposite was in effect for San Diego. Every Triton who attempted 3-point shots made at least 50 percent or more of them during the game.
CSUSB shot 37.5 percent from the field and 26.7 percent from the three point line versus UC San Diego shooting an even 50 percent overall and making six of their eight 3-point shots for a high 75 percent.
However, with a little more than five minutes left in the second half CSUSB came within one point of San Diego, making the score 65-64.
During the remaining five minutes, the Coyotes would miss four shots in a row, with only January making two free throws to end the game in a 71-66 loss.
With a current record of 7-12 the Coyotes need to win all of their last five games in order to have an even record of .500. The regular season ends with the Coyotes playing San Francisco State Feb. 27.
The first of March marks the start of the California Collegiate Athletic Association tournament.
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