SANTA BARBARA, Calif. – The UC Santa Barbara Men's Basketball team (3-0) returned to The Thunderdome as they took on the Fresno State Bulldogs. It was a chippy battle between these two teams, but in the end, it was UC Santa Barbara who came out on top as they took down the Bulldogs 91-86.
 
FROM HEAD COACH JOE PASTERNACK
"I thought we had an awesome crowd tonight. Our students really showed up for back-to-back home games. It's been awesome. I can't tell you what it does for our players to have a packed house. Obviously, Fresno State played really hard. They're a Mountain West team that is very talented and they gave us an unbelievable fight. It was good for us because we've had two games where we've won by 45 and that's unrealistic. We need to be able to survive a close game. Unfortunately, we turned the ball over 20 times. That's not going to work. We have to fix it and get better at that."
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
Fans knew it would be an exciting game between these two teams as the Gauchos and the Bulldogs went basket-for-basket through the first 12 minutes as no one could pull ahead by more than four points at a time. With four-straight turnovers for the Bulldogs and a lack of scoring by the Gauchos, it kept the score close as the Gauchos were only up by three at the end of the first half as they headed to the locker room with a score of 37-34.
 
Once the second half began, these two teams continued this gritty contest as they exchanged baskets for four minutes. With the help of back-to-back technical fouls for the Bulldogs, UC Santa Barbara got the momentum they needed to pull ahead by 11. The Gauchos kept building on their lead until the final four minutes when the Bulldogs picked up the pace. Fresno State earned nine-straight points to get within five points with just 30 seconds left in the second half. After fighting through the full-court press, the Gauchos persevered and came out with the win, taking down the Bulldogs 91-86.
 
LOOKING AT THE NUMBERS

• Deuce Turner had a great night for the Gauchos. He finished tonight's game with 24 points while making 15 of his 16 free throw attempts.
• Jason Fontenet II played the most minutes tonight for the Gauchos and he made the most of those minutes. He secured 18 points while snatching a team-high six rebounds.
• Colin Smith set a new career-high in points tonight as he grabbed 17 points while shooting at 50 percent from the field. Along with that, He added four rebounds and an assist.
• Stephan Swenson had a well-rounded performance for the Gauchos. He notched 14 points while leading all players on the court with six assists. To top if all off, he added on two steals.

UP NEXT
The Gauchos will hit the road as they head North to take on the San Jose State Spartans. This matchup will take place on Sunday, Nov. 17, beginning at 2 p.m. For those who can't make it to San Jose for the game, they can watch at home on the Mountain West Network.