Gauchos Hoops Celebrate An Exhibition Victory
UC Santa Barbara used a 16-0 run to open the second half and rode a balanced offensive attack to an 88-65 exhibition win over visiting Cal State East Bay on Sunday afternoon.
Michael Bryson led the scoring with 22 points and nine rebounds while Alan Williams had a double-double with 17 points and 11 rebounds. Williams also added six blocked shots. Kyle Boswell scored 13 points and guard Zalmico Harmon had 10 in his Gaucho debut.
UCSB led just 39-34 at halftime, but with Williams and Boswell each scoring five points during the decisive run, things got much more comfortable in the second half. Bryson completed the run with a three-point basket at the 17:01 mark, making it 55-34 Gauchos.
The Pioneers never got closer than 17 the rest of the way.
“Al and Z (Harmon) really excelled at the start of the second half,” said Gaucho head coach Bob Williams. “They played so physically that they just took them (the Pioneers) out of their game. Our other guys really fed off of them and got some open looks and easy shots.”
Bryson, who set a school freshman record with 29 points in last year’s final game, didn’t miss a beat and was even better all-around Sunday.
