UCSD wins, remains undefeated; Toreros fall

Undefeated UC San Diego outscored Bradley by 15 over the final eight minutes of the first half Tuesday to win 87-77 and advance to Wednesday morning’s championship game of the Terry’s Chocolate ESPN Events Invitational in Kissimmee, Fla.

The Tritons (6-0) will play Towson (5-2) in the title game at 9 a.m. Wednesday. The game will be televised on ESPN2.

“It’s a really short turnaround, but we’ll be ready to go,” said UC San Diego head coach Clint Allard after the Tritons extended their best start in their six seasons at the Division I level.

“Everyone who came in tonight contributed. We’ll need that again tomorrow. This was a physical game and Towson is another physical team. We’ll just have to do the things we’re used to doing. There’s not much time to prepare.

“I’m proud of the effort tonight. We’ll be ready.”

Leo Beath led UC San Diego with 26 points Tuesday, giving the 6-foot-8 junior transfer from Lynn University 55 points in the first two games of the tournament,

Guard Aidan Burke added 16 points and Tom Beattie scored 13.

The Tritons got off to a slow start as Bradley (3-4) jumped out to a 13-4 lead and forced UCSD into three early turnovers. But the Tritons outscored the Braves 40-20 to the break to finish the first half with a 44-33 lead.

UCSD took the lead for good at 25-23 on a 3-pointer by Burke with seven minutes and 20 seconds to play in the first half. The Tritons outscored Bradley 25-10 over the last eight minutes of the first half while downing five 3-point shots.

UCSD, which committed only five turnovers in Monday’s 91-76 win over Temple, turned the ball over only six times in the final 34 minutes Wednesday. UCSD hit on 12-of-28 3-point attempts (including 8-for-18 in the first half) while shooting 46.4% overall from the floor.

The Tritons also had a 23-11 in points from the foul line.

Bradley’s Jaquan Johnson led all scorers with 29 points.

UCSD will be playing Towson for the first time Wednesday. The Tigers defeated Liberty 72-69 in Tuesday’s opening semifinal behind 6-9 guard-forward Tyler Tejada, who had 20 points and nine rebounds.

 Toreros fall

Cal Baptist (6-0) defeated the University of San Diego (3-3) 76-61 Tuesday afternoon as part of the Acrisure Series in Palm Desert.

After trailing by one point at intermission, the Toreros opened the second half on a 10-point run to take a 49-40 lead. But the Lancers answered with their own 10-point run and steadily pulled away.

Guards Ty-Laur Johnson and Toneari Lane led USD with 21 and 14 points, respectively. Johnson was 10-for-16 from the floor. But Cal Baptist had a 42-21 edge in rebounding. USD had one offensive rebound in the game. USD was also only 3-for-22 from 3-point range.