UCSB held on in a close one beating UC-Irvine 68-61 at the Thunderdome last night. Will Brew Jr shot amazingly accurate from beyond the arc hitting 6-7 three pointers and finishing with 18 points. James Powell had a 7-10 shooting night en route to 19 points. Chris Devine also chipped in 11. The game in the 1st half was all Santa Barbara. Will Brew made five three pointers and shot as a team a stellar 59%. The halftime score was 33-21 in favor of UCSB. Coming out of the gates in the second half, Brew made a three to make the score 36-26. Then UCI went on a 18-5 run that tied the score at 41. After the teams exhanged baskets over a four minute span, James Nunnally made two free throws to make the score 53-52. The next possession for UCI, freshman forward Eric Wise made a layup to make it 54-53 Irvine. From that point on, it was all Gauchos going on a 15-7 run to close the game. During that 15-7 run, Chris Devine was 7-8 from the free throw line, an impressive 87.5%.

It was good to see James shoot the ball so well," said UCSB head coach Bob Williams. "For him to have 19 points and take only two three-pointers is huge. I thought that, for the most part, his shot selection tonight was very good."

Stats: Field Goal %- UCI 43.6%, UCSB 55.3%        Rebounds: UCI-30, UCSB-25

Free Throw %- UCI 60%(6-10), UCSB 79%(19-24) Team Recors(postgame)-UCI- 3-11(1-1)

UCSB- 7-8(1-2)

Next Game: Saturday January 10th vs Cal-State Fullerton Location: The Thunderdome, UCSB TV: FSN Prime Ticket   Media Online: Game Tracker