Bowman doubles up again as Oaks beat the Banana Slugs

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Junior forward Keith Bowman recorded his third consecutive double-double with 26 points and 11 rebounds as the Menlo College men’s basketball team won its second straight, beating visiting UC Santa Cruz, 85-71, in a nonconference contest on Saturday night.

The Oaks (4-11) open Cal Pac Conference play on Thursday at Simpson at 7 p.m. That will bve preceeded by a women’s game at 5 p.m.

The 24th-ranked Lady Oaks downed the visiting Banana Slugs, 73-67, in a nonconference game Saturday night.

Bowman has scored 70 points and grabbed 31 rebounds over his past three games, helping the Menlo men gain some momentum heading into conference play.

Santa Cruz was within 47-46 with 14:13 remaining to play before the Oaks went on a 20-4 run to clinch the win.

“At this point in the season these two wins came at a great time,” Menlo coach Jon Surface said. “The guys are definitely more confident than they were before this stretch. Our energy and bench play has been really good of late, and I like our consistency as well.”

Women’s basketball

Christy Tristao had 20 points and 10 rebounds to lead Menlo in its win over UC Santa Cruz. The Lady Oaks improved to 13-3 overall.

Menlo led by as many as 12 with just over eight minutes to go, before a late Banana Slugs (10-5) charge knotted the score at 63 with 3:23 left. Menlo responded with six straight points to hang on for the win.

“It’s really my team that helps me have a performance like this,” Tristao said. “We have so many good post players, so going against them in practice makes me better every day.”

Jolise Limcaco, Jenna Marinaro and Lauren Adamek each had 11 points for Menlo. Laurel Donnenwirth had 10 rebounds to go with eight rebounds.

By Menlo Athletics