UC San Diego Survives 2OT Thriller in 78-74 Win Over Toros

Box Score

Carson, CA -- Cal State Dominguez Hills took its best shot at visiting UC San Diego, but the Tritons came back from as much as 10 points in the first half and nine in the second, and survived two overtime periods before a raucous Friday night crowd to come away with a thrilling 78-74 double overtime win in the Torodome.

CSUDH, which fell to 6-6, 1-5 CCAA, built a 38-30 first half lead behind the lethal combination of Michael Hernandez and Jerrell Smith (pictured), who combined for 21 of the Toros' points. UCSD, however, drained six 3-pointers in the second half to whittle away at its deficit, forging a 45-45 tie at 10:15 on a foul shot by Henry Patterson.

The Toros answered with a 5-0 run of their own courtesy of three free throws by Jamel Ward and a Hernandez bucket, and maintained a 59-55 lead with 1:49 left in regulation. UCSD's Jordan Lawley cut the lead to one on a 3-pointer, and after Jamaal Barnes got two back with a bucket of his own, Darryl Lawlor tied the game at 61-61 with another three with 37 ticks left in regulation, eventually forcing overtime.

After the first extra session left the two teams knotted again at 70-70, a Lawlor trey gave UCSD a 75-74 lead with 51 seconds left in the second overtime. With the next three possessions resulting in two Toro turnovers and two Triton misses at the line, Mike Steed was forced to foul UCSD's Andrew Hatch with 0.3 seconds left in the session.

Any notion of a last-second miracles by the Toros would be dispelled after a technical foul given to head coach Damaine Powell, however, resulting in one Kelvin Kim make that increased the Triton lead to 76-74, and two Hatch conversions to seal the 78-74 win.

Smith had a monster day for CSUDH with 25 points on 9-of-15 from the field, including a nearly perfect 7-of-8 from the free throw line, while Danny Tavares posted 12 points and 10 boards in the loss. UCSD, meanwhile, which improved to 7-3, 4-1 CCAA, boasted five players in double-figure scoring, led by Henry Patterson's 19 and Lawlor's 16 points.

The Toros, who led for all but 24 seconds of the regulation, went just 1-13 from behind the arc, while UCSD made 9-of-30 from long range to spur its comeback win.

CSUDH travels to San Francisco State and Cal State Monterey Bay next weekend, before returning home to host Chico State and Cal State Stanislaus the weekend of January 25-26, with first tip for both games scheduled for 7:30 pm in the Torodome.

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