SANTA BARBARA, Calif. (Dec. 12, 2022) – The UC Santa Barbara Men's Basketball team (6-2) is back in The Thunderdome to take on the San Diego Christian Hawks for a non-conference game. Along with that, the Gauchos are hosting a toy drive in partnership with the Santa Barbara County Fire Department to help children in the area.
These two teams played each other three times in the last 10 years, with the Gauchos taking home the win all three times.
LAST TIME OUT
The Gauchos were on the road as they took on the Pepperdine Waves in the War for the Shore. A very tight game turned into an overtime thriller as UC Santa Barbara came back to campus with a 67-64 win over the Waves. Both Josh Pierre-Louis and Miles Norris had 16 points in this game while Ajay Mitchell added on 15 points.
HUNTING THE HAWKS
San Diego Christian College come into this game with a 2-4 record against their other NAIA institutions, but they also played numerous Division I universities in the start of the season. They faced off against San Diego State, Cal State Bakersfield, Grand Canyon and San Diego.
The Hawks are led by Greg Chew, who has 98 points through the six games they played as he averages 16.3 points per game. The senior forward from Woodland Hills, California had his best game in a 77-73 win over Saint Katherine's as he scored 28 points. He registered double-digit points in all but one game this season. He is so close to averaging a double-double per game as he also puts up nine rebounds per game. He currently has two double-doubles on the season.
Along with Chew, Jonah Felix puts up a great number of points for the Hawks. The junior guard from Cypress, California averages 12.4 points per game for San Diego Christian. He hit 19 points twice this season against Menlo and Life Pacific, shooting above 75 percent in both of those game.
Distributing the ball to these two offensive leaders is Cameron Dashiell. The senior point guard averages five assists per game while being helpful in terms on defense by grabbing 3.3 steals a game.
As a team, San Diego Christian average 68.0 points per game while securing 33.7 boards per game. The Hawks are also 10th in the NCAA when it comes to the number of steals per game as they rack up 10.5 a game. Of the 25 players on the Hawks' roster, only five of those players are freshmen. There aren't any sophomores on the roster and the rest of the team is either juniors or seniors.
WHEREABOUTS
The Gauchos will hit the court against San Diego Christian at 7 p.m. this evening. For anyone who can't make it to The Thunderdome, fans can watch through ESPN+ or follow along with live stats at ucsbgauchos.com.
