UOG's Aaron Castro drives toward the UOG basket in a March 20 matchup against GCC.

Both teams entered the game with 0-5 records in the tournament, as both institutions dropped all four games in pool play and had lost to the two No. 1 seeds in the tournament at the start of bracket play.

But both teams came out fast and furious at the start of the game, trading three-pointers to open the match-up as Logan Hopkins for UOG was hitting long-range shots to match GCC's.

UOG took a 26-20 lead after the first 10 minutes and managed to lead for most of the second quarter. GCC made a run near the end of the first half to take a 39-38 lead, but the Tritons ended the half with a 6-0 run and took a 45-39 lead into halftime and UOG would never trail again in the game.

The Tritons were up 71-69 after leading by 10 points for most of the third period. And UOG pushed its lead back up to 10 points for most of the fourth quarter. GCC cut the lead to six points several times but could never get any closer and UOG ultimately took the game with a 89-78 victory.

Hopkins led UOG with 34 points, but he did not hit another three-pointer after the first quarter, as most of his damage was done with drives to the basket. AJ Carlos scored 25 for the Tritons, and Aaron Castro added 16 points along with Cloyd Rosas who scored 10 points to finish UOG's double-digit scoring.

The Tritons are now 1-5 in the March Madness Tournament and face the Guam Naval Base "Slime" on March 21 in another elimination game at the Coral Reef Recreation Center. The "Slime" lost to MacTech last night to push them into loser's bracket. The Naval Base defeated the Tritons 94-82 in pool play.

Photo by UOG Athletics Director Doug Palmer