SEASIDE, Calif. — In a game full of long 3–pointers and thunderous dunks, the biggest play turned out to be a simple layup. Cal State Monterey Bay guard Mateo Jones' (Victorville/Silverado HS) uncontested fast break layup with 1.7 seconds remaining countered a UC San Diego game–tying 3–pointer less than three seconds earlier to lift CSUMB to a 64–62 win Friday night in The Kelp Bed.

The Tritons overcame a 13–point second half deficit to tie the game at 62–62 on Jeff Van Dyke's fourth 3–pointer of the evening with 4.3 seconds remaining. While UCSD celebrated, the Otter orchestrated the game–winning play.

Greg Anderson (Murietta/Palomar College) saw Jones take off down the floor and summoned his inner Peyton Manning to loft a perfect three–quarter court pass. Jones, who raised the Kelp Bed roof with a pair of monster dunks earlier in the game, could have brought the house down with another. But the sophomore made a veteran decision and eschewed the splash play for the security of a layup to seal the win.

UCSD (3–2, 1–1 CCAA) landed the first blow in this contest, racing to a 9–0 lead before the game was three minutes old. CSUMB (4–2, 1–0) regrouped quickly, however, and used an 18–2 run over the next 10 minutes to pull ahead 17–11. The Tritons would get no closer than five points—and trailed by as many as 13—over the next 18 minutes until a late surge threatened to upset the Otter apple cart.

Down 54–46, UCSD went on a 10–0 run to take the lead for the first time since early in the first half. The teams traded five 3–pointers over the next three minutes as the lead see–sawed until Patrick Lefiti's (Bay Point/Los Medanos College) 3–ball put the Otters on top, 60–59.

A CSUMB stop and a pair of Evan Zeller (Mission Viejo HS) free throws gave the Otters a 62–59 lead with 20 seconds to play. Following a Triton timeout, an inbounds play freed Van Dyke on the left wing in front of the UCSD bench for the trey that, the Tritons believed, had sent the game to overtime.

Zeller led a balanced Otter offense with 13 points. He also passed a career–high six assists. Anderson led the Otters with seven rebounds and established a career high of his own with four assists.

Van Dyke and Aleks Lipovic led UCSD with 14 points apiece.

CSUMB concludes its brief 3–game homestand by hosting 2014 CCAA Champions Cal Poly Pomona Saturday at 7:30 p.m.