Feb. 17, 2007
SANTA BARBARA, Calif. - Rodney Stuckey scored 30 points, including 14 in the final 11 minutes, to pace visiting Eastern Washington to a 71-70 non-conference win over UC Santa Barbara on Saturday night. It was the Gauchos third consecutive defeat.
UCSB junior Alex Harris, who finished with 27 points, was fouled while making a short jump shot with 3:59 left in the game. He made the free throw to give the Gauchos (15-9) its final lead of the game, 62-60. Center Paul Butorac, who had 18 points for the Eagles (13-14) made his only three-pointer of the game with 2:52 remaining to give his team a 63-62 lead. After a Gaucho turnover, Stuckey scored on a hanging lay-up in the key to make it 65-62. Chris Devine dropped the lead back to two points with 1:51 left on a driving lay-up. Stuckey struck back again, hitting a shot from just inside the free throw line with 1:08 left. Following a pair of misses on the UCSB offensive end, Stuckey was fouled while shooting with 19 seconds to go and he made both free throws.
Harris gave the Gauchos one more chance when he hit a three-pointer with six second left to make it 69-67 Eastern Washington, but Kellen Williams, who was fouled intentionally, made a pair of free throws with four ticks left to give the Eagles an insurmountable lead. Harris made another three-pointer at the buzzer to account for the final score, 71-70.
While UCSB struggled with its shooting all night, making just 37.3% from the field, Eastern Washington heated up in the second half, making 62.5% over the final 20 minutes to finish at 48.1%.
Devine and freshman James Powell joined Harris in double-figures for the Gauchos with 15 and 13 points respectively. Glenn Turner had a team-high eight rebounds for UCSB, which has lost three games in a row for the first time this season.
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The Gauchos played without injured freshman point guard Justin Joyner on Saturday night. Joyner was nursing a pulled hamstring.
UCSB returns to Big West play on Thursday night when it travels to Cal State Fullerton for a pivotal game against the Titans at 7:00 p.m.
UCSB junior Alex Harris, who finished with 27 points, was fouled while making a short jump shot with 3:59 left in the game. He made the free throw to give the Gauchos (15-9) its final lead of the game, 62-60. Center Paul Butorac, who had 18 points for the Eagles (13-14) made his only three-pointer of the game with 2:52 remaining to give his team a 63-62 lead. After a Gaucho turnover, Stuckey scored on a hanging lay-up in the key to make it 65-62. Chris Devine dropped the lead back to two points with 1:51 left on a driving lay-up. Stuckey struck back again, hitting a shot from just inside the free throw line with 1:08 left. Following a pair of misses on the UCSB offensive end, Stuckey was fouled while shooting with 19 seconds to go and he made both free throws.
Harris gave the Gauchos one more chance when he hit a three-pointer with six second left to make it 69-67 Eastern Washington, but Kellen Williams, who was fouled intentionally, made a pair of free throws with four ticks left to give the Eagles an insurmountable lead. Harris made another three-pointer at the buzzer to account for the final score, 71-70.
While UCSB struggled with its shooting all night, making just 37.3% from the field, Eastern Washington heated up in the second half, making 62.5% over the final 20 minutes to finish at 48.1%.
Devine and freshman James Powell joined Harris in double-figures for the Gauchos with 15 and 13 points respectively. Glenn Turner had a team-high eight rebounds for UCSB, which has lost three games in a row for the first time this season.
The Gauchos played without injured freshman point guard Justin Joyner on Saturday night. Joyner was nursing a pulled hamstring.
UCSB returns to Big West play on Thursday night when it travels to Cal State Fullerton for a pivotal game against the Titans at 7:00 p.m.
