Dec. 1, 2001

Box Score

Moraga, CA - The Saint Mary's men's basketball team (1-4) lost their fourth game of the season to the UC Santa Barbara Gauchos (4-1) in front of 2,473 at The Thunderdome, 62-51, on Saturday night. Senior Ethnie Stubbs (Freeport, Bahamas) led the team with 11 points and eight rebounds.

The Gaels had ten players contributing in the Gaels 51-point performance. Besides Stubb's 11, freshman Ryan Nelson (Pheonix, AZ) added 10 points as he was 4-for-5 from the field, 2-for-3 from behind the arc, while grabbing two rebounds.

Saint Mary's found themselves down 10-2 to start the game, but soon took the lead 14-12 with 10:45 left to play in the first half. The Gaels would increase their defensive pressure as they were able to lead by as much as eight with only four minutes to go. The Gauchos cut it within two by a pair of free throws with 2:16 left to play. On two made free throws by sophomore Chase Poole (Austin, TX), the Gaels went into the lockeroom leading by four over favored UCSB.

In the second half the Gaels continued to play good defense to keep a Saint Mary's lead even though the calls weren't going their way. With 15-minutes left in the second half the Gaels led by 12. After a UCSB timeout, they were able to pull within eight at the 11:03 minute mark. And that's when disaster struck for the Gaels. SMC did not make another basket until six minutes later on a three-pointer from junior Ross Benson (Everett, WA). The Gaels were outscored 28-9 in the remaining 11 minutes of play. The zone defense of the Gauchos proved to be too much for the Gaels,going 2-for-11 from behind the arc and shooting just 33 percent overall in the second.

Santa Barbara's Mark Hull finished with 15 points and four rebounds, while Jacoby Atako ended with 11 points and four assists. The Gauchos shot 54 percent from the floor to the Gaels 40 percent while the Gaels were out-rebounded 29-25.

The Gaels will now travel to San Jose to play the Spartans on Wednesday, December 5. Tipoff is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.