HONOLULU (AP) — Ajay Mitchell’s layup with a second left allowed UC Santa Barbara to maintain its hold on first-place in the Big West Conference with a 65-64 win over Hawaii on Thursday night.
UC Santa Barbara (17-3) is now 8-1 in conference play, one game ahead of UC Riverside (7-2) and a game-and-a-half ahead of UC Irvine (6-2). Hawaii (15-6) is now two games back at 6-3.
The Gauchos led by eight points after Mitchell scored at the basket with 7:13 left, 61-53, but Hawaii rallied to take the lead on a layup by Bernardo da Silva with 2:44 left, 64-63. Neither scored until Mitchell’s last-second layup.
Mitchell finished with 23 points to lead the Gauchos. Cole Anderson added 13 points.
Samuta Avea paced the Warriors with 13 points and da Silva added 12.
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