Written by Craig Lifto, SSU Sports Information

LA JOLLA, Calif. -- The first place Sonoma State men's basketball team saw its weekend get off to a rocky start after the Seawolves were unable to sustain a good first half performance in a 63-57 loss to UC San Diego on Friday night at RIMAC Arena.  Sonoma State falls to 5-2 in CCAA play and into a three-way tie for first place with Cal Poly Pomona and Cal State Stanislaus.  They are 8-3 overall.  UC San Diego improves to 6-5, 4-3 CCAA.

The Seawolves got out to an early lead when they went on an 11-point run to build a 16-7 advantage with 8:42 left in the first half.  Despite the Tritons outscoring the Seawolves 14-5 the remainder of the half, Sonoma went into halftime with a 25-21 lead. The Seawolves lost the lead with 14:41 remaining in the game when UC San Diego's Hunter Walker hit a jumper to give the Tritons a 31-30 lead they would never relinquish.  The Seawolves fell behind by as many as 13 points and tried to battle back, but were unable to do so. The Seawolves could only get as close as five points before the final buzzer sounded.

UC San Diego shot 43.5% (20-46) to Sonoma State's 32% (16-50) for the night. The rebounding category was dead-even at 36. A bright spot in the loss for the Seawolves was the great night by the bench. They outscored the Tritons 27-13 in the category.

David Ahern led all Seawolf scorers with 14 points on 4-of-8 shooting. He was also a perfect 5-of-5 from the free throw line.  James Davis, the Seawolves' leading scorer - and 3rd in the CCAA, had 12 points. Nathan Molony-Benjamin led the Seawolves in rebounds with 7. JJ Mina had a solid nine points to go with six rebounds.

Walker led all Triton scorers with 15 points. Adam Klie had 14 points.

Sonoma State faces another tough road test when they take on Cal Poly Pomona on Saturday night in a battle for first place. Tip-off is slated for 7:30 pm.