LONG BEACH — A cold stretch near the end of the first half and start of the second did in the UCSB men’s basketball team as it suffered a 69-53 loss at Long Beach State on Saturday.
The Gauchos (8-9 overall, 1-2 in Big West) started the game 3-for-9 from the field before missing 25 of their next 27 shots.
Led by Mike Caffey, who finished with 22 points, the 49ers (9-11, 3-1) took advantage, going on a decisive run to claim a 37-21 lead.
Led by Alan Williams, who missed his first eight shots, UCSB rallied back with a 16-7 run to pull within 44-37 with 12:30 remaining. Williams was 4-for-4 from the field and scored 11 of the 16 points in the run. John Green scored the other five points.
Long Beach answered the Gauchos’ rally with a 13-2 run of its own to reclaim a decisive 57-39 advantage with just under eight minutes to play. The 49ers never looked back.
“I can’t ever remember a stretch like that,” said UCSB head coach Bob Williams of the 2-for-27. “Against a team that good, you can’t expect to shoot like we did and have a chance. I think we’re a good shooting team, but it hasn’t looked like that in the last couple of games.”
The Gauchos finished the game 16-for-64 from the field, 25 percent. They were also outrebounded 47-35, the second straight game they have struggled to rebound.
“We’ve got to rebound a lot better than that to have any success,” Williams said. “Al wasn’t feeling well again, but that shouldn’t make this kind of difference.”
Williams finished with 17 points and nine rebounds to pace the Gauchos while Green added 11 and Zalmico Harmon 10. Gabe Vincent had nine points and a career-high seven rebounds.
David Samuels had 15 points and 10 rebounds to complement Caffey’s 22-point performance for Long Beach, which made 9-of-23 three-point shots, 39.1%. The 49ers were just 23-of-54 overall from the field, 42.6%.
UCSB will try to get back on track when it returns home to host UC Riverside on Thursday, Jan. 22 in a 7:00 p.m. game at the Thunderdome.
