Gauchos go ice cold down the stretch and lose at Long Beach State in their Big West opener

LONG BEACH, Calif. - UCSB led at Long Beach 58-57 after a long jumper by freshman Ajay Mitchell with 3:45 left but they went scoreless the rest of the way and dropped their Big West opener 65-58.

It was the Gauchos first game in two weeks as they had three straight Big West games canceled due to COVID-19 protocols.

Mitchell led UCSB with 15 points.

The Gauchos led 34-26 at the half and extended the lead to 12 points in the opening minute of the second half after a Miles Norris steal and slam.

But the Gauchos were outscored 39-20 in the final 19 minutes of the game and fell to 7-6 for the season.

The Beach was led by Aboubacar who scored 17 points.