GOLETA, CA – Michael Bryson scored 23 points and UC Santa Barbara used a 21-4 burst to open the second half Saturday to rally for a 68-49 Big West Conference victory over Cal State Fullerton.
UCSB (10-9, 3-2) also got 15 points and 10 rebounds from John Green to win its second game in two tries minus injured center Alan Williams, the 2014 BWC player of the year.
Fullerton (8-12, 0-5) lost its fifth in a row on the heels of a 5-game winning streak. Lanerryl Johnson led the Titans with 21 points and Moses Morgan had his best game since Jan. 3 with 10 points off the bench. Steve McClellan led all rebounders with 12.
Fullerton shot only 30 percent in the second half from both the field overall and the 3-point line and made only 6 of 13 free throws.
Fullerton led at the half, 36-31, for the first time in conference play. McClellan scored on a tip-in to open the second period and Johnson made two free throws for a 40-33 lead at 17:26. UCSB then went on a 19-0 run over 7 minutes before Josh Gentry make a 3-point play for Fullerton at 10:22 to make it 52-43. The Titans never seriously threatened as the Gauchos paraded to the foul line.
UCSB came out of the gate quickly, hitting its first 4 shots for a 10-2 lead. But Johnson scored three times to help tie it at 14-14 and the teams basically traded buckets until Fullerton scored the final 5 points of the half on a Morgan trey and Alex Harris deuce.
Williams currently is averaging 17.1 points and 11.6 rebounds. He's out two weeks with a shoulder ailment suffered in practice Tuesday.
Fullerton has only one game next week, hosting rival Long Beach State at 7:05 p.m. in the 110th meeting of the two schools.
