SANTA BARBARA, Calif. – Brendan Westendorf scored 28 points, including 11 straight late as visiting Seattle University overcame a 20-point deficit over the final 9:09 to defeat UC Santa Barbara 80-76 on Friday night.

The Gauchos (2-10) built a 69-49 lead in large part because of their three-point shooting, but they also lost it, in large part, because of their three-point shooting as they missed 10 of their last 11 from outside the arc and 12 of their final 14 shots overall. 

At the same time, the Redhawks (8-6), led by Westendorf, had an outstanding shooting night as they made 24-of-45 overall, 53.3%, 12-of-28 from three-point range, 42.9%, and 20-of-24 from the free throw line, 83.3%. Westendorf was 11-of-15 overall and 6-for-9 from three-point range. He made his final five field goal attempts, four of which were three-pointers. 

"We made 9-of-10 threes in the first half and were feeling pretty good about ourselves," said head coach Bob Williams. "In the second half, we took too many and a lot of them were too early and too deep." 

The only three-pointer that UCSB made in the last nine minutes was by freshman Max Heidegger who tied the score at 74 with 0:58 to play, but Westendorf responded with a lay-up to give Seattle a 76-74 edge with 0:41 remaining. 

After a missed three-point attempt by Gabe Vincent, William Powell was fouled by J.D. Slajchert. Powell made one of his two free throw attempts but Heidegger missed a three on the other end and the Gauchos were forced to foul Manny Chibuogwu with 0:10 left. Chibuogwu hit both of his free throws to make it 79-74 and essentially end the game. 

"We did not play mature tonight," Williams said. "Veterans and young guys. It's hard to win Division I games and you can't make it harder on yourself like we did in the last 10 minutes tonight." 

The 76 points were a season-high for UCSB but 47 came in the first half and just seven came in the final 9:09. 

"It's been like this in other games where we play well for about 30 minutes and then the last 10 minutes really gets us," said Slajchert. "We won the game against Bakersfield the other night in the last 10 minutes and tonight, Gabe (Vincent) said it best: we took a step back." 

Vincent and Heidegger led five Gauchos in double-figures with 17 points apiece. Slajchert had career-highs of 10 points, eight rebounds and three assists. Eric Childress and Clifton Powell each added 10 points as well. 

"There is no doubt that we did some good things tonight," Williams said. "But that's gong to get overshadowed by the way the game ended." 

Overall, UCSB shot 41.4% for the game after hitting 46.2% in the first half. The Gauchos made just 6-of-10 free throws and got outscored by 14 at the free throw line. 

"We have to get to the line more than five times in each half," Williams said. "That was how we won the game against Bakersfield on Tuesday and that's another way we lost this game. You don't get free throws when you don't get to the rim. We got beaten at the foul line. We insisted on shooting three-pointers and that's not a formula for us to win." 

Powell had 19 points and nine rebounds for the Redhawks while Zachary Moore made five three-point baskets and finished with 19 points.

UCSB will open Big West Conference play on Wednesday, Jan. 4 when it travels to UC Davis for a 7:00 p.m. game against the Aggies.