UC San Diego won a basketball game with four players Sunday.

The Triton played most of the afternoon with five against visiting Cal State San Marcos, but with 14 seconds left in a one-point game forward Drew Dyer fouled out and went to the bench. When nobody replaced him, the referees stopped the game and motioned for Tritons coach Eric Olen to sub in a fifth player.

“I don’t have any more guys,” Olen shouted back.

Dyer, who had just put the Tritons ahead on a fallaway jumper, was the fourth UCSD stater to foul out in a whistle-plagued game (there were 62 total fouls and 73 free throws). Olen already lost two players before the season with injuries, lost two more during the season and had two freshmen redshirting. Then starting center Zach McMillan rolled an ankle early in the second half and was sitting on the end of the bench in a protective book.


That left four guys, none of them starters, to play the final 14 seconds: Koree Cox, Kenny Fraser, Chris Hansen and George Buaku. And Buaku had four fouls; if he fouled again, they’d be down to three.

Said Olen: “I turned to my assistant and said: ‘What are we going to do if this goes to overtime?’ He said: ‘We’re gonna lose.’ So I said: ‘Well, let’s try to find a way to win now.’”

The Tritons led 66-65 at the time, but San Marcos’ Nik Brown was at the line for two free throws. He missed both, and Buaku was fouled. He made both free throws to push the lead to 68-65, and with eight seconds left San Marcos called timeout.

Olen’s plan was to intentionally foul, not wanting to risk a tying 3-pointer and play overtime four-on-five. So he had his four players guard everyone but the inbounder, putting Buaku on San Marcos center Ben Dickinson thinking he’d be the least likely to get the ball and shoot a 3.


What happened? San Marcos inbounded to Dickinson and Buaku couldn’t foul him. Instead, Cox rushed over – “heads up play,” Olen said – to hack Dickinson before he could pass. Dickinson missed both free throws as well, the second on purpose in hopes of getting the rebound. The Tritons (9-1 and ranked 11th in Division II) grabbed it, and a free throw by Hansen iced the 69-65 win.

Had it gone to overtime, Olen had two choices. One was to play four-on-five knowing that it very well could be three-on-five if or when Buaku was whistled for a fifth foul. Another was to send one of his two redshirts to the locker room to put on a uniform. That option, however, would have cost the Tritons a technical foul because neither was listed in the score book.

“I’m glad I didn’t have to make that decision,” Olen said. “I’m really proud of our guys for figuring out a way to get it done.”

For San Marcos (4-5), it was its second crazy finish in as many games. At Chico State last week, the Cougars were at the line for two free throws with 1.2 seconds left and the score tied. Darnell Taylor made the first to put them up 81-80, then tried to intentionally miss the second so Chico State wouldn’t have time to set up an inbound play.


But it went in anyway, Chico State inbounded to Jalen McFerren, and McFerren’s heave from midcourt swished at the buzzer for an 83-82 win.