PORTLAND, Ore. - The UC Santa Barbara Men's Basketball team (2-0) defeated the Portland Pilots 94-53 for their first road win of the season. Jason Fontenet II had a career night with 21 points going 5-for-6 on three-point field goals.
FROM HEAD COACH JOE PASTERNACKÂ
"Our players were really focused and had the right mindset going into the game this afternoon," said Pasternack. "We are looking forward to a really big challenge on Wednesday against Fresno State."
HOW IT HAPPENED
Both teams looked to gain offensive rhythm as they exchanged shots in the first minutes. Portland pulled ahead first with a 10-6 lead six minutes into the contest. The Gauchos turned on the ignition led by Deuce Turner who put up seven of the next 12 points scored by the Gauchos to bring the score to 18-12 at the halfway mark of the first half. Cole Anderson and Fontenet II brought the Gauchos' lead to 33-20 with six minutes left in the half.
The Pilots came back within 10 headed into the final minutes of the opening half. Santa Barbara wouldn't let them get far. Stephan Swenson capitalized on turnovers, getting the ball to Fontenet II and Turner on the three-point line to pull the Gauchos ahead on a 12-0 run. The Blue and Gold would hold the Pilots to only five points in those final five minutes of the first half going into the break up 47-28.
Portland got their feet under themselves to start the second half but were quickly interrupted by Colin Smith's first and Turner's fourth three-pointer of the night. The offense came out with the same high efficiency as the first half, again led by Fontenet II who brought the offense to a greater lead with his fifth three-pointer of the night.
As the clock ran down to the 11-minute mark, both teams went fairly scoreless until Zion Sensley scored five points for the Gauchos in 30 seconds. The Pilots found momentum on offense matching the Gauchos' moves and trying to close the gap.
The Blue and Gold lit up all over the court in the last eight minutes extending the gap and leaving little hope for the Pilots. Chris Mitchell, Ben Shtolzberg and Max Sheldon all picked up three pointers in the final moments to cap off a dominant night in Portland with a 94-53 final score.
BY THE NUMBERS
- Jason Fontenet II was impressively efficient on offense making eight of his nine field goal attempts
- Kenny Pohto put in work on both sides of the ball with six of his seven shots finding the bottom of the bucket and also recording five rebounds.
- Deuce Turner made significant contributions on offense scoring 15 points for the Gauchos.Â
- Stephan Swenson and Ariel Bland led the Gauchos in assists each recording five. Swenson also recorded three steals.
UP NEXT
The Gauchos return home Wednesday to face Fresno State at 7 p.m. in the Thunderdome. For those unable to attend, streaming will be available on ESPN+ with live stats on ucsbgauchos.com.
