SANTA CRUZ, CA -- Seniors Derek Jones and Julie Randall were named 2nd Team All-Independent by the Association of Division III Indpendents this past week, while Junior Jimmy Herrera was awarded Honorable Mention.

A 6'6" center from Van Nuys, Derek Jones has led the Men's Basketball Team both physically and emotionally all year as a tenacious competitor and Senior Captain. Averaging 25 minutes per game, Jones led the team in scoring with 14 points, shooting 58% from the field. Jones added 8 rebounds a game along with his defensive presence that led to a team high 56 blocks. Derek was a four-year player whose dedication to the program and UCSC athletics will be greatly missed by coaches, teammates, and fans.

Newcomer Jimmy Herrera made an immediate impact in his first year on the UCSC Men's Basketball Team, as he was named All-Indpendent Honorable Mention team for his efforts. A Junior guard from Los Gatos, Jimmy averaged 11 points per game in 21 minutes of play. Herrera shot 51% from the field, 31% from behind the arc, and 90% from the freethrow line. Going into his second season, Jimmy will definitely be the player to watch on next year's Men's Basketball Team.

Congratulations to Derek, Julie, and Jimmy on their All-Independent Achievements.
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Related News at the Santa Cruz Sentinel
DIII All-Independents Winners List (MBB)
DIII All-Independents Winners List (WBB)

SANTA CRUZ, CA -- The UCSC Men's Basketball team lost a close one to visiting Chapman University, 46-53, in front of 350 plus fans packed into the West Fieldhouse. These two teams battled back and forth with the Panthers holding a 30-26 lead at halftime. With 2 minutes left to go in the second half, the Slugs pulled within 4 points. After stopping the Panther offense the Slugs pulled within 1 after Jimmy Herrera beat his defender back door to put in an easy layup. Patrick Carney hit 2 freethrows to put Chapman back up by 3, but the Slugs were unable to answer back on offense as Carney hit another 2 freethrows to put Chapman up 5 with 20 seconds left to go in the game. Senior Nick Owen had 2 chances to knock down a three pointer but was unable to connect. Chapman's Chad Eichten hit 2 freethrows to seal the win for Panthers.

Chapman was led by Patrick Carney's 13 points, shooting 7 for 8 from behind the line, while Josh Flyn-Brown added 10 points hitting 2 for 2 from behind the arc. Zach Wheatley led all players with 9 rebounds.

Jimmy Herrera was the lone Slug in double-digits with 13 points, shooting 5 for 9 from the field, while Derek Jones led the Slugs with 6 rebounds and 3 blocks.

UCSC falls to 3-18, while Chapman's record now stands at 11-7.
  ==> Boxscore UCSC vs Chapman

SANTA CRUZ, CA -- UCSC Men's Basketball played with confidence and poise to pull out their 4th victory against the visiting Colorado College Tigers. After playing a tough 40 minutes in a loss against Chapman University (57-58) on Saturday, the Tigers had to bounce back and battle another 40 minutes against the Slugs this afternoon. With 14 lead changes, the game wasn't decided until the final minutes of the game. The Slugs took the lead by 1 (69-68) after a Jimmy Herrera 3 pointer with 2 minutes left to go in the game, Senior Derek Jones stepped up and took a charge on Colorado's next possession to protect the lead and then hit 1 of 2 freethrows to bring the lead to 70-68. Colorado's next possession found Michael Reich behind the line to missed 2 freethrows, after having a perfect freethrow percentage (15 for 15 today and 11 for 11 last night). And it was the play of Jimmy Herrera in the final minute of the game that sealed the win for the Slugs. Herrera had a crucial offensive rebound with 40 seconds left to go and then played some tight defense on Colorado's Michael Reich in the final seconds of the game, who led all scorers with 33 points. Herrera then grabbed the defensive rebound off a Melvin Sando missed 3 pointer, where he was fouled with 2.5 seconds left to go in the game and went to the line to seal the win 71-68.

The Slugs shot 54% from behind the arc. Nick Owen hit 4 of the Slugs' 15 three-pointers and led all UCSC scorers with 15 points. Jimmy Herrera added 14 points, going 3 for 3 from behind the arc, and freshman Jon Mercado came off the bench to score 13 points.

The Slugs have a couple of weeks off and play their final home game of the season February 4th at 7pm against the University of Dallas, come out and support your Slugs and Seniors Matt Robles, Derek Jones, Chris Gilbert, Nick Owen, and Minas Be-Emnet.
  ==> Boxscore UCSC vs Colorado

SANTA CRUZ, CA -- The UCSC Men's Basketball team lost a close one to visiting Chapman University, 46-53, in front of 350 plus fans packed into the West Fieldhouse. These two teams battled back and forth with the Panthers holding a 30-26 lead at halftime. With 2 minutes left to go in the second half, the Slugs pulled within 4 points. After stopping the Panther offense the Slugs pulled within 1 after Jimmy Herrera beat his defender back door to put in an easy layup. Patrick Carney hit 2 freethrows to put Chapman back up by 3, but the Slugs were unable to answer back on offense as Carney hit another 2 freethrows to put Chapman up 5 with 20 seconds left to go in the game. Senior Nick Owen had 2 chances to knock down a three pointer but was unable to connect. Chapman's Chad Eichten hit 2 freethrows to seal the win for Panthers.

Chapman was led by Patrick Carney's 13 points, shooting 7 for 8 from behind the line, while Josh Flyn-Brown added 10 points hitting 2 for 2 from behind the arc. Zach Wheatley led all players with 9 rebounds.

Jimmy Herrera was the lone Slug in double-digits with 13 points, shooting 5 for 9 from the field, while Derek Jones led the Slugs with 6 rebounds and 3 blocks.

UCSC falls to 3-18, while Chapman's record now stands at 11-7.
  ==> Boxscore UCSC vs Chapman

SAN DIMAS, CA -- The UCSC Men’s Basketball team returned from their trip to Southern California with two much needed victories. The Slugs seemed to find their shooting touch during their sweep of Bard College from New York and La Sierra University from Riverside. In the Tournament opener Senior Captain Derek Jones and Freshman Jon Mercado led a balanced offensive attack with 18 points each. Alex Al-Sabah chipped in 13 off the bench for the Slugs as they cruised to a 97-63 victory over Bard College.

The next night, the Slugs balanced attack was too much for La Sierra as Santa Cruz finished off the Tourney with an impressive 86-52 victory. Four Slugs scored in double figures led by Jimmy Herrera with 14; Nick Owen and Jon Mercado each had 13 and Alex Al-Sabah had 11. In the Tournament four Slugs averaged in double figures (Jones, Herrera, Mercado, and Al-Sabah), and contributions from each member of the team made the trip a success for UCSC.

The Slugs look to continue their improved play at home this weekend versus Chapman University on Thursday at 7 pm and on Sunday at 1 pm versus Colorado College.

BELLINGHAM, WA -- Last Friday in Washington, the Slugs fell in a blowout to Saint Martin’s 99-77. The 22-point loss was a small improvement over the 24 point margin against the Saints last season.

UC Santa Cruz suffered a 110-60 loss on Saturday to Division II Western Washington in Bellingham. The Vikings, ranked No. 4 in D-II, improve to 8-0. Six Western Washington players scored in double figures. UCSC shot just 35 percent. Senior Forward Derek Jones led the Slugs with 13 points.

Preview Fall 2004

Coming off a disappointing 3-21 season, the Fighting Banana Slugs are returning 12 players and looking for a better season.

Leading the way this year are returning 4-year starters Derek Jones, Matt Robles, and seniors Chris Gilbert, Nick Owen and Minas Be-Emnet. They will be joined by juniors Bryan Maeda, Fernando Barreda, and Alex Al-Sabah and sophomores Dave Dupart, Aaron Burgess, Murphy Holmes, and Lorenzo Hutton.

Newcomers to this year’s squad include junior Jimmy Herrera and freshman Jon Mercado.

This year’s team should be much improved in all areas under the direction of 2nd year coach Gordon Johnson and his assistants. In addition, each player has worked hard over the summer to improve areas of concern with their individual games.

This year, the Slugs are looking for more offense with improved perimeter shooting, a more aggressive inside game, and an unselfish fastbreak style of play that the fans will love. On the defensive end, the Slugs are going to employ a controlling full court pressure style of play that will incorporate their individual quickness and team depth to work more in our favor.

This year’s team is prepared to make a run at the Division III NCAA Tournament, and has worked hard to become one of the more dominant DIII teams on the West Coast.