The UC San Diego men continued to roll toward the Big West regular season title, both the Point Loma Nazarene University men and women teams wrapped up conference titles with home wins and the women’s teams at Palomar and Grossmont colleges advanced in their college basketball tournaments on Saturday.
A look:
• UCSD (26-4, 16-2) holds a one-game lead over UC Irvine with two games to play after padding its NCAA Tournament resume with a 100-55 rout of Cal State Fullerton at LionTree Arena.
Aniwaniwa Tait-Jones led the Tritons with 21 points while going 8-for-10 from the floor. Tyler McGhie scored 13, and Hayden Gray and Justin Rochelin each had 11. UCSD shot 53% from the floor and committed only four turnovers while forcing 20.
Meanwhile, UCSD’s women (16-14, 12-6) scored a 69-46 win at Fullerton. Sabrina Ma had 23 points on 7-for-12 shooting (including 5-for-9 on three-pointers). Sumayah Sugapong (La Jolla Country Day) had 16 points and three assists. Kayanna Spriggs had six points and 11 rebounds.
• The University of San Diego men (5-26, 2-16) ended a 16-game losing streak Saturday night by defeating Portland 82-80 in the regular-season finale at the Jenny Craig Pavilion. The USD women (6-23, 2-18) lost 60-35 at San Francisco. Senior guard Kody Clouet (San Marcos High School) led the Toreros’ men with a career-high 35 points. Clouet was 12-for-17 from the floor, including 8-for-10 from 3-point range.
Both USD teams are seeded last in this week’s WCC Tournament. The men will play Pacific (9-23, 4-14) Thursday at 2:30 p.m. after the women play Pepperdine (8-21, 3-17) at noon.
• PLNU’s men and women scored home wins over Westmont to advance directly to the NCAA Division II PacWest Tournament semifinals March 7 in San Rafael.
Senior point guard Luke Haupt (St. Augustine High School) led the PLNU men with 20 points, six rebounds, three assists and two steals as they completed a 25-5 regular season (18-2 in PacWest play) with a 64-48 win. Zackry Paulsen had 13 points and five rebounds for the Sea Lions, who are ranked ninth nationally.
The Sea Lions women (23-5, 18-2) defeated Westmont 57-39 behind 18 points and seven rebounds by Alli McDonald. Tavia Rowell had nine points. PLNU held the visitors to 10-for-52 shooting from the floor.
• While the Palomar and Grossmont women were advancing in their regionals, the sixth-seeded San Diego City College men were upset at home. The Southwestern College men and Mesa College women also lost on the road.
Sixth-seeded Palomar College (23-6) defeated 11th-seeded Santa Barbara (22-7) 79-61 on the Comets’ floor, while the 10th-seeded Griffins (24-5) pulled away in the final minute to win 67-59 at seventh-seeded Mt. San Jacinto (24-5).
Five Comets finished their win in double figures, led by guard Nevaeh Mageo (Oceanside High School), who had 17 points off 5-for-12 shooting from 3-point range. Pacific Coast Athletic Association Player of the Year Kylee Trujillo (Mission Hills High School) had 16 points. Brooke Quintana (Fallbrook High School) and Teanna Alaman (Mater Dei Catholic High School) each had 15. Kailani Flournoy (Mater Dei Catholic High School) had 10 points and 14 rebounds.
Kyla Palpallatoc scored six of her game-high 24 points on free throws and also had a key defensive rebound in the final 21 seconds for Grossmont College. Fellow all-conference guard Anayla Anderson had 22 points, eight rebounds and seven assists. Forwards Chaya Scott and Kiya Walters had 11 and 10 rebounds, respectively.
Both Palomar and Grossmont will be on the road on Saturday.
Fourth-seeded Glendale (24-4) defeated the 13th-seeded Olympians (20-10) 58-53.
The SDCC men (23-6) trailed by as many as 20 in their 75-65 loss at home to Cerritos. PCAC Player of the Year Logan Huston (Torrey Pines High) led the Knights with 22 points. Top-seeded Fullerton (27-3) beat 17th-seed Southwestern (20-10) 70-67. Jartavious Jackson led the Jaguars with 21 points.
• Cal State San Marcos will host the California Collegiate Athletic Association Tournament March 6-8, but neither of the Cougars teams qualified for the six-team fields.
