Aaron Acosta scored 14 of his season-high 21 points in the second half, including a three-pointer with 18.2 seconds remaining that put the Tigers in front to stay, to help the Colorado College men's rally for a 69-65 victory over UC Santa Cruz on Saturday afternoon at Reid Arena.

Acosta nailed a pull-up jumper from above the foul line to cut CC's deficit to 65-64 with 54 seconds to go, and then nailed the game-winning triple from the top right.

Junior guard Eric Jonas sealed the victory when he stole the ball from UCSC's Sam Gabbard in the lane, and then sank a pair of free throws with less than a second remaining to cap his 20-point performance.

After making only one of their nine three-point shots during the first half, the Tigers connected on six of eight long-range attempts during the final 20 minutes. Acosta made all four of his three-pointers, while Jonas was 2-for-2 from behind the arc in the second half.

The Banana Slugs took their largest lead at 51-41 when Haakon Ullrich hit a floater in the lane with 12:04 remaining, but baskets by David Elijah-Brown and Eric Jonas got the Tigers back to within six points 1:24 later.

Colorado College slowly trimmed its deficit and pulled to within points on CooXooEii Black's three-point play with 7:43 to go and again when Black scored on a put-back off of a missed free throw to make the score 58-55 with 5:44 to play.

Black finished with 16 points and led CC with six rebounds.

The Tigers took their first lead since early in the first half when Black scored on a layup with 3:20 to go, and then Jonas hit a triple from the top of the arc on Colorado College's next possession to make the score 62-58.

Gabbard scored seven consecutive points to give UC Santa Cruz its final lead at 65-62 with 67 seconds remaining, but Acosta answered with the next five points, which proved to be the difference in the game.

The Banana Slugs finished the game with a 35-28 advantage in rebounds, but that was mitigated their 25 turnovers.

UCSC was 4-for-11 from behind the arc during the first half when they led by six points after Patrick Ramos scored midway through the frame, and then again when Gabbard drove the lane with 3:01 remaining before halftime.

CC cut its deficit to three points when Black scored with 17 seconds to go, and then Acosta tied the game at 32-32 just 14 seconds into the second half with a triple from the left corner.

Acosta's second triple of the half gave the Tigers their first lead since the opening minutes of the game at 35-34 with a three-pointer from the same spot almost 90 seconds later.

Colorado College begins Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference play on Tuesday, Dec. 4, when the Tigers play host to Johnson & Wales University at 7:30 p.m.