TURLOCK — In a highly anticipated rematch game against UC San Diego, the Stanislaus State Warriors rallied from down 23 points before letting the game slipped away late as the 18th ranked Tritons won 87-70 Saturday night.

Tempers flared in the latter part of the game resulted in a total of five technical fouls and an ejection. In the end, UC San Diego made 24 of 29 free throws to improve to 14-3 overall and 9-1 in conference play.

The resilient Warriors roared all the way back after watching UCSD go crazy beyond the three-point arch in the first half. Stan State actually took a brief lead with about 7:00 left to play before falling to 6-8, 3-7 CCAA.

The Warriors wanted nothing more than revenge after a first-round CCAA Tournament loss at La Jolla last March in a game Stan State felt it should have won. But UCSD earned trips to the charity stripe en route to a double overtime win, ending the Warriors' 2017-18 season.

However, the Tritons had different ideas Saturday night. UC San Diego made three-pointers at will to begin the game and led by 23 points 11 minutes into the game. Gabe Hadley's three-pointer -- the team's ninth in its first 12 tries -- gave UCSD a 40-17 advantage. In the first half, the Tritons nailed 18 of 27 shots (66.7 percent) and 12 of 17 from distance (70.6 percent).

But Stan State fought back.

A 24-10 run in the second half cut the deficit all the way down to one, 60-59, when Mat Bradshaw made a triple at 9:12 left. UCSD cool off in the second half and was just 3 of 14 from behind the arch (and shot 28.6 percent overall).

A tight battled ensued, and at the seven-minute mark a double-technical foul involving Andy Cleaves (who went up hard for a rebound) and former Warrior Christian Bayne (charged with a flagrant one) set the tone for the rest of the game.

After teams traded free throws, Rolaun Dunham drained a three-pointer to give the Warriors a 66-64 lead.

But that didn't last as UCSD scored 11 unanswered points — seven by Bayne — to pull away. In fact, UC San Diego scored 23 out of the 27 points in the final six minutes of the game.

The Tritons also earned free trips to the foul line on three more Stan State technical fouls. Bayne converted on every free throw attempt to finish with 12 for 12 and a team-high 26 points. 

Ty Davis, who had a career-best 11 assists Thursday, dished a new best with 12 to go with 12 points Saturday night.

Dunham and Darius Scott each scored 13 to lead the Stanislaus side.