UC sB wins Big West Championship, punches ticket to March Madness

By KRISTEN KELLER UCSB SPORTS

The UCSB men’s basketball team (27-7, 15-5 Big West) played in their second Big West Championship game in three seasons, taking on the Cal State Fullerton Titans. When the final buzzer went off, it was the Gauchos who were on top as they won The Big West Championship with a score 72-62.

“I am just so happy for our players to be able to experience March Madness; it is the greatest spectacle in all of sports, in my opinion,” said Gauchos Head Coach Joe Pasternack. “With the adversity our guys went through this season: losing two of our top six players due to injury and losing three straight games because of that. The way our guys responded to that shows so much character and competitive spirit.”

HOW iT HAPPEnEd

The Gauchos came out ready to play as Miles Norris knocked down the first basket of the night with a threepointer. Despite UCSB striking first, it was Cal State Fullerton who had the lead at the first media timeout. The Gauchos chipped away at the lead the Titans’ built, taking a one-point lead with seven minutes left in the first. By the time halftime hit, the lead changed 10 times but in favor of the Gauchos as they were up 33-31.

At the start of the second half, Cal State Fullerton came out strong, scoring six points to the Gauchos’ two, taking the lead early on. However, it wasn’t for long as UC Santa Barbara battled back to take the lead. Once the Gauchos regained the lead, they never let it go as Ajay Mitchell and Calvin Wishart made key shots to keep the Gauchos in a good position. By the end of the second half, the UC Santa Barbara Gauchos were the 2023 Big West Champions, taking down the reigning champs Cal State Fullerton 72-62.

Large crowd shows up for celebration

By KATHERINE ZEHNDER NEWS-PRESS STAFF WRITER

The Goleta Valley Library on Saturday celebrated its 50th birthday and the retirement of the longtime library director, Allison Gray. These milestones were marked with a family-friendly community celebration which took place from 2-4 pm.

“It went great; we had a huge turnout. Speakers included Second District Supervisor Laura Capps, and Third District Supervisor Joan Hartmann, a representative from Assemblyman Gregg Hart’s office, all the city council members, and the head of the library advisory commission. A huge number of library patrons and former employees were in attendance. Many attendees wore gray in my honor,” Allison Gray, outgoing library director told the News-Press. Ms. Gray estimated about 130-150 were in attendance.

“It was very celebratory. The speakers talked about the importance of libraries to democracy and the importance of this library to the community. All the speakers were kind enough to say things about the changes I made to the library. It was really sort of half a celebration of the 50th birthday of the library and half a

Please see LIBRARY on A4

LOOK in G AT THE nUMBER s

• Mitchell was the leading scorer in tonight’s game as he earned Big West Championship MVP, putting up 20 points in this game. Along with that, he added on four assists and four rebounds to round out his time in Henderson.

• Following close behind him in points was Wishart, whose three-pointer towards the end of the second half gave the Gauchos the much-needed momentum to solidify their win in this game. He ended the game with 16 points while grabbing seven boards and a team-high two steals.

• Cole Anderson had a phenomenal night from beyond the arc, shooting at 75 percent. This was good enough to end the game with 12 points while adding on four rebounds.

• Norris was the last Gaucho to finish with double-digit points, securing 10 in his final Big West Championship.

UP nEXT

The Gauchos have now punched their ticket to March Madness, which begins next week. The team will get together to watch The Selection Show beginning at 3 p.m. Check back for updates as the team learns who they will play in the first round and at which location.

Kristen Keller is the associate athletic director for communications and digital strategy at UCSB. email: sports@newspress.com

TRAFFIC, CRIME AND FIRE BLOTTER Lane

Firefighters respond to a chimney fire in the 2100 block of Dermanak Rd. in Solvang on Friday.

House damaged in fire

SOLVANG - County Fire responded to a chimney fire in the 2100 block of Dermanak Rd. in Solvang on Friday.

The building involved was described as a large, two-story resident, and flames were reported coming from the roof and chimney box of the structure.

The residents of the house selfevacuated and no injuries were reported.

It took firefighters a little more than 20 minutes to extinguish the fire, which was knocked down by 9:52 p.m. Firefighters remained at the scene for some time after to mop-up. The cause of the fire is under investigation

- Matt Smolensky

KENNETH SONG / NEWS-PRESS

U.S. Highway 101 southbound traffic was especially heavy due to lane closures at the construction zone just past the Santa Barbara-Ventura county line, creating a major bottleneck as three lanes turned into one on Saturday.