Men's Basketball can't sweep first-place UAV, lose 90-80

The Keelhaulers usual stingy defense did not saty focused for the whole game, as the Pioneers shot 53% from the field, including 58% in the second half.

UAV (16-6, 9-2 Cal Pac) started the game on a 13-0 run before senior Mike Meserole broke the drought with a corner three. The Keelhaulers (15-10, 6-4 Cal Pac) would storm back to lead on four occasions in the half, though their lead would never be more than two points. The two-piont lead they thought they would have at the break was erased by a three pointer at the buzzer by the Pioneers, along with a foul for a four-point play to end the half.

History repeated itself in the second half, as UAV again raced out to a double-digit lead, growing as large as 19 points with 4:38 remaining. Again the Keelhaulers would claw back to make it a game, but were never able to cut it under six points much less take the lead.

Assistant Coach Nikhil Jain felt the Keelhaulers fell well short of playing a whole 40 minutes.

"Tonight it felt like we picked our spots at times," Jain said. "When we locked in on defense, we were able to used that to fuel our offense. We made some good runs, but when you're constantly clawing back into the game, you need everything to break right, and tonight it didn't. We talked about doing the dirty work before the game, but we didn't follow through and it cost us."

Freshman Zavier Lucero of Vallejo, Calif. led the charge with 22 points, going 6 of 14 from the field, 3 of 5 from downtown, and 7 of 8 at the free-throw line to go along with five rebounds. Kyle Price of Rocklin, Calif. finished with 15 points on the night along with seven rebounds, going 4 of 5 from the field and 7 of 8 from the charity stripe.

Meserole of Galt, Calif finished with 11 points, as did fellow senior Phil Randles of Fresno, Calif.

The Keelhaulers remain in third place due to their home victory over PUC on January 18, even though PUC is also 6-5 in conference play. The Keelahulers will finish the regular season in Angwin against PUC on February 17. Cal Maritime had a chance to move into a tie for second place had they gotten the win, as second-place UC Merced lost to La Sierra in overtime.

UP NEXT: It will be senior night at the P.E. Center, as the Keelhaulers will wrap up their regular-season home slate with an 8:30 tip off vs. La Sierra on Saturday, February 10. Fans can watch the game at portal.stretchinternet.com/csum and listen on 89.5 FM in Vallejo, also available on the TuneIn app.