SANTA CRUZ, Calif. – The Rhodes men's basketball team picked up their first road win of the year on Saturday in California against the University of California at Santa Cruz in the Hotel Paradox Winter Classic, 49-36.
 
The Lynx improve to 7-2 on the year, while the Banana Slugs fall to 4-9 in 2014.
 
After a hot start from UC Santa Cruz, Brennan Sullivan got things going offensively for the Lynx. The sophomore netted the Lynx first points with a three, followed by a layup, to pull within two at 14:01.
 
Rhodes continued to chase the Banana Slugs, and by the 3:14 mark, a big Drew Miller trey knotted the contest at 13-13 with 3:14 left in the half.
 
A 13-3 run to close the half, featuring buckets from Geoff Livsey, Miller and Sullivan gave the Lynx a seven point advantage heading into the break, with a count of 23-16 at the midway point.
 
At the half, Miller led the Lynx with nine points. Sullivan netted seven, with Livsey chipping in five. Jared Ponce led the Slugs with seven points, with Adam Marlow and Corey Cilla each posting three. Rhodes held their opponents to a mere 19.2 percent shooting from the field, and a 23.1 three point shooting percentage.  Rhodes fired a first half percentage of 34.6 from the field.
 
The Lynx never relinquished their lead in the second half, with a Miller three jump-starting the offensive output, giving Rhodes a 13 point lead at the 15 minute mark to make the count 33-20.
 
The Lynx worked to keep their distance, and maintained their 13-point advantage, when a Miller lay-in with 4:25 to play gave Rhodes a 43-30 lead.
 
Rhodes finished the low scoring affair, knocking down five free throws to seal the deal and wrap up the 49-36 win.
 
Miller led all scorers with his 21 points. The senior added two assists, two steals and one block to his totals. Ryan Van Hoeck worked into the double digits with eight second half points to post 10. Sullivan added eight points and six rebounds, also with two steals and two assists.
 
The Banana Slugs were led by Ponce who recorded 12 points. Tre Weston, Kyle Creighton and James Townsend each finished with four points, with Weston snagging 13 rebounds in the outing.
 
Rhodes fired 31.9 percent from the field in the contest, while holding UC Santa Cruz to just 22.0 percent shooting. The Lynx also forced 16 Slugs turnovers, which they turned into 19 points.
 
Rhodes will wrap up their California road trip on Dec. 20 when they face off against George Fox University at 9 p.m. in the second round of the Hotel Paradox Winter Classic.