Sun Mar 16 03:10:00 UTC 2025: ## UC San Diego Tritons Advance to Big West Championship Game
**Henderson, NV** – Top-seeded UC San Diego Tritons secured a dominant 69-51 victory over the fifth-seeded UC Santa Barbara Gauchos in the Big West Conference Tournament semifinals Friday. Aniwaniwa Tait-Jones led the Tritons with a stellar all-around performance, scoring 20 points, grabbing eight rebounds, dishing out nine assists, and blocking three shots. Tyler McGhie added 13 points for UCSD, while Nordin Kapic contributed another 13.
The Tritons, winners of 13 consecutive games, overcame a tight first half, trailing 27-26 at the break. However, a decisive 18-2 second-half run propelled them to victory. Tait-Jones was instrumental in this surge, scoring 13 of his 20 points in the second half. Stephan D. Swenson (12 points, 6 assists) and Ben Shtolzberg (12 points) led the scoring efforts for the Gauchos (21-13), but it wasn’t enough to overcome the Tritons’ strong second-half performance.
UC San Diego will now face the winner of the UC Irvine and Cal Poly semifinal game in Saturday’s championship contest.
First Piper 