Gauchos Beat Titans on Prince’s Late Shot

GOLETA —  UC Santa Barbara was missing its top three-point shooter Monday night, but that didn’t bother the Gauchos at crunch time.

Guard Danee Prince, who replaced injured Lelan McDougal in the starting lineup, made a three-point shot with six seconds left to give Santa Barbara a 65-62 Big West Conference men’s basketball victory over Cal State Fullerton in front of 3,722 in the UCSB Events Center.

McDougal was held out of the game because of headaches from a concussion in practice. McDougal, averaging 18.7 points and shooting 50% from three-point range, also is expected to sit out UCSB’s game Wednesday against UC Irvine.

Prince, however, came through under pressure after Fullerton had tied the score at 62-62 on Chris Dade’s shot with 38 seconds remaining. Prince finished with eight points.

Mark Flick, a senior forward from Cerritos, helped make up for McDougal’s absence with a 24-point performance. Flick had been struggling and had made only five of 21 shots in the last two games and had been below-par for the last five.

Against the Titans, Flick made nine of 16 from the field and five of 10 three-point shots. Gaucho center Kealon Wallace had 13 points and 10 rebounds.

The Gauchos, who had lost three games in a row, improved to 4-6, 1-1 in the conference. The Titans dropped to 2-9 and 1-2.

Fullerton Coach Bob Hawking said he expected either Prince or Flick to take the shot at the end. “We came into the game keying on both of them,” Hawking said.

The Titans had gone to a zone before Prince’s winning basket.

“I thought it would be Flick on that shot,” Fullerton forward Chuck Overton said. “I thought we could win the game. I thought we would win it.”

The Titans managed to get off a last-second, three-point shot by Dade, but it hit the rim and bounced away.

“Our guys can’t compete any harder than that,” Hawking said. Four Fullerton players scored in double figures, led by John Williams and freshman Mark Richardson with 13. Overton had 12 and freshman Kenroy Jarrett 11.

Hawking was pleased with the play of the two freshmen. “They’re going to be with us for four years, and we’re happy about that,” he said.

Santa Barbara shot 46.9% from the field and made 12 of 19 free throws. Fullerton shot 45.6% from the field and was eight of 17 on free throws.

The Titans got off to a good start, making nine of their first 13 shots from the field, but Fullerton then made only four of its next 16.

Fullerton led, 22-17, midway through the first half, but after that point the Gauchos scored 13 points in a row, seven of them from Flick, to take a 30-22 advantage before Richardson broke the streak with a rebound basket. Santa Barbara went on to a 33-28 lead at the intermission with Flick finishing the first half with 18 points, sinking three of four three-pointers shots.

The Titans stayed close in the second half and tied the score at 56-56 with 4:42 left when Overton stole the ball and drove for a layup.

A three-point play by Williams and another free throw by Williams later gave Fullerton a two-point edge before Wallace scored to tie the scored with 1:48 to play.