UC Irvine Stunned by Santa Barbara

Chris Devine scored 18 points and Cecil Brown had 14 as last-place UC Santa Barbara beat first-place UC Irvine, 60-59, Thursday night at Irvine.

The Gauchos, 9-11 overall and 2-6 in the Big West Conference, have won two straight for the first time since the first two games of the season.

Despite the loss, UC Irvine (13-10, 9-2) remains in first place in the Big West.

Aaron Fitzgerald led the Anteaters with 17 points.

Brown made a 12-foot jump shot in the lane to give the Gauchos a 58-57 lead with 43 seconds to play.

After a missed three-point attempt by Fitzgerald, the Gauchos’ Alex Harris was fouled with 24 seconds to play.

Harris missed the front end of the one-and-one, but Glenn Turner grabbed the offensive rebound and banked in a bucket to give Santa Barbara a 60-57 lead.

Fitzgerald streaked down the court in traffic and scored with 12 seconds remaining to cut the Gaucho lead to 60-59, but the Anteaters were unable to get another shot off.

Pacific 67, Cal State Fullerton 62 -- Christian Maraker scored 25 points, including the basket that put his team ahead to stay at Fullerton.

Maraker also had 13 rebounds to earn his 13th double-double of the season. He made 10 of 19 field goals for Pacific (17-6, 7-2 Big West), including a three-point play that gave the Tigers a 59-56 lead with 2:53 to play.

Three and a half minutes earlier, Maraker’s outside jump shot had put his team ahead 52-51 after the Titans (10-10, 3-7) went on a 13-4 run to take a 51-50 lead.

Long Beach State 69, Cal Poly San Luis Obispo 66 -- Louis Darby came off the bench to score 15 points, and the 49ers came back from a 20-point second-half deficit at Long Beach.

Darby scored 13 of his 15 points in the second half to help give the 49ers their fifth win in seven games.

Trailing, 48-28, with 16:23 remaining, Long Beach State (11-10, 6-4 Big West) went on a 35-15 run, capped by a three-point play from Darby.

Cal Poly (6-14, 4-4) has lost six of eight and dropped to 2-6 on the road.

Cal State Northridge 74, UC Riverside 56 -- Jonathan Heard scored 20 points off the bench at Riverside, and the Matadors ended a three-game losing streak. Heard played just 28 minutes but made the most of his time.

Bakari Altheimer scored 12 points for Northridge (9-11, 3-6 Big West).

Steve Williams, Dedrick Bates and Larry Cunningham each had 10 points for UC Riverside (3-17, 3-6).

Bates, who had averaged 18 points in the Highlanders’ last five games, went down because of a left knee injury early in the second half and did not return.