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March 1, 2004
Season Review
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| MORE PRACTICE TO COME: Men's basketball team practicing the new offenses that Coach Johnson brought to the program. Returner Minas Be-Emnet pictured with the ball. |
After playing one of the toughest schedules in recent school history (five Division I and two Division II) and with the fourth coach in three years, the young Slugs' season came to a crashing end with a loss on February 17 to San Jose Christian 72-84.
The season record of 3-22 did not reflect the amount of change nor how hard the players worked. Playing with 5 juniors and 6 first-year players, the young Slugs battled each team right to the end. Sometimes starting as many as three true freshman, the team and players improved in various aspects of the game in each outing.
Some of the growth was the development of junior Derek Jones. Jones had a fabulous season leading the team in minutes played (28 per game), scoring (14 points per game) and rebounds (8 per game). Another plus was the growth of junior Matt Robles, who was moved from starting Point Guard to starting Shooting Guard. These young men handled their roles of team leaders and captains with poise and skill.
Other surprises were the performances of junior Minas Be-Emnet, freshman Dave Dupart, and junior Nick Owen. Each of these young men played major parts in the overall growth of the team. All in all the whole team, Chris Gilbert, Murphy Holmes, Bryan Maeda, Lorenzo Hutton, Jon Miller, and Aaron Burgess showed amazing resiliency and commitment to what started out as very promising season. The players know they are going to have to work harder in the off-season to get to the next level.
January 30, 2004
Slugs Play Close Game to Crowd of 300
SANTA CRUZ, CA -- UCSC arranged for the men's basketball teams to play downtown at the Santa Cruz Civic in hopes that it would meld a stronger bond between the residents of Santa Cruz and Slug athletics. Most of those who showed up, about 300 in all, had ties to UCSC.
"I think there were definitely more people here than at the West Fieldhouse," 6-foot-6 junior Derek Jones said. "If it would have been like this at the West Fieldhouse they would have kicked people out or people would have been hanging from the ceiling."
In turn, Derek Jones was impressive on the floor. He scored a team-high 17 points, including the games only dunk, which he slammed during a crucial play with 36 seconds remaining to put the Slugs within three of the Panthers. They finally found those three points on a one-handed huck from Murphy Holmes that banked off the glass and fell with 12 seconds left, but it came too late.
The Slugs (3-16) were forced to foul after every made basket, and Chapman (11-8) was nearly infallible from the line. In fact, the Panthers sunk all but one of their 21 free throws. So, by the time Holmes made his remarkable shot, the Slugs were already down by four points.
"It came down to who was going to convert on the free throws, and they did," Johnson said.
UCSC found the loss especially frustrating since the Slugs led most of the game until Chapman took the lead with six minutes left.
==> See Full "Slugs' Night Out" in the Santa Cruz Sentinel
==> See "Are You Ready for Slug Hoops?" Santa Cruz Sentinel
January 15, 2004
Slug Basketball Homes A Win Against SJC
SANTA CRUZ, CA -- In UCSC's first basketball home game of 2004, the Slugs jumped out to early leads of 11-0 and 21-10. San Jose Christian fought hard to stay close, but the Slugs never lost the lead. Freshman Lorenzo Hutton led a balanced attack with 15 points along with Matt Robles and Derek Jones chipping in 15 each as well. Hutton hit two big free throws in the last minute and freshman Aaron Burgess who contributed 13 points and 9 rebounds sank a free throw to close the game and give UCSC its first home victory of the season 74-69.
January 10, 2004
Slugs Start Close But Leopards Take Lead
LA VERNE, CA -- In their second game in as many nights, UCSC visited La Verne University to take on the Leopards. UCSC jumped out early and used their size to dominate the paint and the boards early. Matt Robles and Derek Jones continued their marvelous play of late and led the Slugs with 21 points and 12 rebounds while Robles added 18. The first half was another back and forth affair with La Verne using a late run to take a 40-38 halftime lead. In the second half, La Verne's defense limited the Slugs to just 25 points and UCSC eventually fell 85-63.
January 9, 2004
Slugs Play Close Game at Cal Lutheran
THOUSAND OAKS, CA -- UCSC battled a strong Cal Lutheran team featuring DIII All-American Zareh Avedian and an undefeated home record. The first half was a back and forth affair with Matt Robles and Derek Jones leading the way. With a 10 - 1 run at the half, Cal Lutheran took a 41-30 halftime lead. Robles had 12 at the half and finished with 18. Jones finished with 12 points and 7 rebounds and outplayed Cal Lutheran's All-American holding him to 10 points on 4-17 shooting. The Slugs were down 19 with 17 minutes to play before they roared back to within 2 with 5 minutes left in the game. But, UCSC didn't have enough left in the tank to finish the game and eventually fell 76-65.
December 18, 2003
Mid-Season Recap
SANTA CRUZ, CA -- The UC Santa Cruz Men's Basketball Team is off to another rocky start. Once again the Slugs suffered from the early season scheduling woes of playing DI and DII competition. But the Fighting Slugs have shown poise and determination on their way to their first victory over Southwestern College (100-80). Four players scored in double-digits: Aaron Burgess, 12; Chris Gilbert, 15; Derek Jones, 21; and Darwin Zook led all scorers with a personal and team season-high of 22 pts. The team also posted a season-high 22 assists in that win. As the team enters the DIII half of their season, things look to get a little easier.
Junior Point Guard and team leader Matt Robles averages over 30 min. a game and has posted strong stats across the board, including 7.9 pts. per game, a team-high 35 assists (3.9 per game and a 1.34:1 assist-turnover ratio), and a team-high 23 steals. Robles dropped a season-high 7 assists vs. Utah Valley and had a season-high 19 pts. against St. Martin's (led all S.C. scorers). Minas Be-Emnet has added a spark off the bench averaging almost 9 pts. in just 18 minutes per game, including a game-high 19 pts. vs. Vandenberg AFB at the Redlands Tournament.
Derek Jones is another consistent scorer that averages 8.9 pts. per game and leads the team in rebounds (5 per game). Jones had the team's only double-double against the University of Redlands posting 15 pts. and 12 rebounds. Among the top scorers is Junior Chris Gilbert with 6.3 pts. per game, averaging 23 minutes. Gilbert leads the team in 3pts. FG made (10) and is among the top leaders in assists in steals.
Freshmen Aaron Burgess and Dave Dupart have stepped into starting roles this season and post consistent stats that include 8.8 and 8 pts. per game, respectively. Dupart posted his best numbers against DIII Redlands, scoring a season-high 20 pts. by going 10-16 from the field, and added 3 assists, 3 steals, and 1 block in 27 minutes. Burgess had a strong game against powerhouse DII San Francisco State, going 5-7 from the field, leading all Santa Cruz scorers with 11 points, while also grabbing 7 rebounds in 25 minutes.
Lone Senior Darwin Zook, rounds out the top scorers with 5.9 points per game, shooting 50% from the field and 40% from 3 pt. range, while coming off the bench to average 14 minutes a game.
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November 12, 2003
Men's Basketball Season Preview
After struggling through the past three years with 3 different coaches, this year's Banana Slugs hope to things around. Some of the turnaround will start with what they believe to be a stable coaching staff.
UCSC has brought in a proven high school coach in Gordon Johnson, the former Assistant and Head Coach of St. Joseph Notre Dame HS of Alameda, California for 22 years. Last year, Coach Johnson came to UCSC and worked under Athletic Director/Head Coach Greg Harshaw before taking over the team the final four games of the season, Kiernan Gordon (assistant 2002/03) and James Page former player for UCSC (2002/03).
This year's team will return 7 players from last year's 4-23 team, which played one of the toughest schedules in the country (3 div 1, 6 div 2, 3 NAIA div 1): Senior Darwin Zook; Juniors Matt Robles, Derek Jones, Chris Gilbert, Minas Be-Emnet, Nick Owen; Sophomore Brian Maxwell; and 6 newcomers, which include junior Jon Miller; sophomore Bryan Maeda; and freshmen Aaron Burgess, Dave DuPart, Murphy Holmes, and Lorenzo Hutton.
Robles (led team in assist with 7 per game), Jones (led team in block shots with 23), and Gilbert (last year's defensive stopper), all starters from last year's team will be three of the key components to this year's team success. Zook, another player who played major minutes, will also be a major contributor to this year's team. Be-Emnet and Owen are both scorers who came off the bench and provided the team with much needed outside scoring punch. Maxwell, also a player who played major minutes last season, will bring size and strength to this year's team.
Last year's team lacked a team continuity which, in the long run, hurt the team, but this year's newcomers will bring a welcomed fire to the team. Each newcomer has come from strong high school programs, such as Long Beach Poly (Miller), Mater Dei (Maeda), and St. Joseph Notre Dame (DuPart, Holmes, Hutton), which are all rich in basketball tradition.
This year's team could and should be the start of good things to come with the men's basketball program at UCSC. The pieces are in place, and now it is up to the players and coaches to take it to the next level.
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