No. 4 Division II UC San Diego ran its win streak to 19 games as the Tritons wrapped up the regular season with a 99-86 victory at Cal State San Marcos Saturday.
With the win, UC San Diego matched a school best, compiling a 27-1 overall record. UCSD enters next week’s California Collegiate Athletic Association tournament with a 21-1 conference record.
Sophomore guard Tyrell Roberts and senior forward Christian Oshita each passed 500 points this season in the win. Both also overtook Drew Dyer in the UCSD record book for three-point field goals in a season.
Roberts knocked down 95 threes and Oshita drained 94 during the season. Dyer connected on 92 in 2015-16.
Oshita also finished with a game-high 27 points.
Roberts knocked down an early three-pointer to tie the score at 15-15 with 14:14 left in the first half. UCSD then was aided by a key blocked shot off the bench from senior center Chris Hansen.
The Tritons built their largest lead of the half at 10 points when junior guard Mikey Howell found Hansen who buried a three.
In the second half, Oshita stretched the Tritons’ advantage to 13 when he put back a miss with a slam dunk, giving the visitors a 60-47 lead. Oshita began to heat up and not to be outdone, Roberts buried back-to-back shots from long range, and the Tritons led 82-67 with 7:00 left.
With 3:43 remaining in the game, Roberts buried his sixth three of the game as the Tritons went up 92-74.
Top-seed UC San Diego begins the postseason at 8 p.m. Tuesday. The Tritons will host a quarterfinal against a to-be-determined opponent in the CCAA tournament. The game will be broadcast live on ESPN3.
– Staff reports
