The best player in the Big West Conference stepped up on the biggest stage at the most crucial moments on Saturday night.
Ajay Mitchell scored 14 of his 20 points in the second half to lead the second-seeded UC Santa Barbara men’s basketball team to a 72-62 victory over fourth-seeded Cal State Fullerton in the championship game of the Big West Tournament at Dollar Loan Center in Henderson, Nevada.
Mitchell, a 6-foot-5 sophomore shooting guard from Belgium who was named the Big West Player of the Year earlier in the week, was 8 for 12 from the field to help the Gauchos win the tournament for the second time in three years and secure the automatic berth into the NCAA Tournament.
Fullerton (20-13) brought an eight-game winning streak into its fourth tournament final in the past five seasons after reaching the championship game just once between 1989 and 2018.
“To be in the championship game four out of the past five years, it speaks volumes of our program and it speaks volumes for the guys in that locker room,” said Fullerton coach Dedrique Taylor, who was hired in March of 2013. “Not just this team, but previous teams, all the way back to when we started. Those guys built something for us and these guys are just continuing the tradition.”
The Titans received a solid performance from junior shooting guard Max Jones, who finished with 18 points on 8-for-13 shooting. Tory San Antonio contributed 15 points and nine rebounds and Latrell Wrightsell Jr. also scored 15 but was just 6 for 17 from the floor.
Playing for the third time in three days, the Titans did not receive any points from their reserves.
“I don’t know that this group had enough to contend with Santa Barbara’s depth,” said Taylor, whose team won the 10-team tournament last year. “A lot of plays that we would normally make, they didn’t go our way tonight.”
The Titans took their last lead 50-49 on a jump shot by Wrightsell with 7:39 left. Mitchell put the Gauchos right back ahead…
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