FULLERTON, Calif. (KEYT). -The UC Santa Barbara men's basketball team dropped its first conference game of the season to Cal State Fullerton Thursday night. Despite winning the rebounding battle and making nine more 3-pointers than the Titans, the Gauchos' 24 turnovers led to 42 points for Fullerton.

HOW IT HAPPENED
An opening three kicked off the scoring for the Titans and the Gauchos responded with a Hosana Kitenge layup to get on the board. Following the basket, the Titans went on 13-0 run. Six turnovers by the Gauchos propelled the run. After taking a timeout, UC Santa Barbara started to get to the rim and hit open shots in a back-and-forth stretch.

During the middle part of the half, Cal State Fullerton went on another big 14-0 run as the Gauchos trailed 32-13 at the nine-minute mark. At that point, Mahaney and Kitenge were the only two players to make shots for the Gauchos before CJ Shaw hit a three shortly after.

The Shaw three was part of a short spurt of the Gauchos' 9-2 run to cut the lead to 13. In the final minutes of the half, the teams went back and forth and UC Santa Barbara went to halftime down 50-36.

To start the second half, both teams traded baskets and chipped away at the Titan lead. Zion Sensley hit a 3-pointer to cut the lead to 12, and just after, the Gauchos cut the lead to 10 after a Marvin McGhee IV dunk.

Following some back-and-forth, back-to-back threes cut the lead to eight with just under 11 minutes to play, but Fullerton went on a 7-0 run to build their lead back to double digits. It was the closest the Gauchos would get and ultimately fell 95-84.

NOTABLES
Mahaney's 23-point outing was his third 20-point game this season.
This was the first game this season, and the Gauchos did not record a single block.
The Gauchos won the rebounding battle but lost the game for just the second time this season. They are now 7-2 when they outrebound their opponent.
The Gauchos made nine more three pointers than the Titans, outshooting them 41.2 percent to 29.4 percent.
The Gauchos were perfect from the free-throw line, making all 10 of their shots.

UP NEXT
The Gauchos will stay on the road as they head to CSUN to take on the Matadors on Saturday, Jan. 3. The Gauchos and Matadors will tip off at 1 p.m. The game will be broadcast on Spectrum SportsNet with live stats available.

(Article courtesy of UCSB Athletics).

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UC SANTA BARBARA, Calif. (KEYT). -The UC Santa Barbara Women's Basketball team tipped off 2026 with a home showdown versus Cal State Fullerton today, a contest the Titans won 62-61. The high-intensity game went down to the buzzer and is just the second loss of the Gauchos's season, who are now 2-1 in conference play and 11-2 overall.

FROM HEAD COACH RENEE JIMENEZ
"One thing we've learned how to do is execute in close games. And I thought we did a great job executing down the stretch," Jimenez said. "But your luck's going to run out. You can put yourselves in positions to win, but we probably had three games where we've won on either a buzzer beater or three seconds etc., and at some point, your luck's going to run out and it's going to go the other way."

HOW IT HAPPENED
Cal State Fullerton set their tone early on, initiating a hard press defense that would define their style of play for the duration of the game. Though the Gauchos won the tip off, the Titans made the first basket with a layup and started 2-0. Zoe Borter responded for the Gauchos, launching the first of her soon-to-be signature three-pointers.

It was a fast-paced back and forth, with each team scoring clusters of points at a time, but the Gauchos kept the lead they established at 3-2 and stayed several baskets ahead. They exited 22-18 from the first quarter.

The Gauchos' lead held early in the second after Jessica Grant kicked it off with a signature three-pointer.

Halfway through, Fullerton tied it at 27-27 before putting themselves ahead 29-27. Santa Barbara got its lead back after a layup-free throw combo by Julia Púente-Valverde gave them 30 points. The half closed out at 37-33 Gauchos.

Fullerton tied it 37-37 almost immediately in the third, making two layups in the first minute. Borter sank another three to bring it back to 40-37, but the game was tied again at 42-42.

The Gauchos held it at 48-47 for nearly three minutes before they exited the quarter still ahead 50-48.

The Titans outlasted the Gauchos through the fourth, holding Santa Barbara to just 11 points – its lowest-scoring quarter of the game. After Olivia Bradley opened the period with a layup, the Titans went on a ten-point scoring run that brought them their first tangible lead at 58-52.

By the time the Titans' streak had ended, the Gauchos had just two minutes to put a stop to the operation. In cinematic fashion, Santa Barbara made seven back-to-back points, overcoming Fullerton's buffer and coming out ahead 61-60. But then, after collecting 23 offensive rebounds, the Titans' 24th sealed the game

After missing a layup with just seconds remaining, the Titans stole the final offensive rebound and returned it into the basket. They came away 62-61 to become the first Big West team to defeat the Gauchos this season.

The teams varied greatly in terms of offense, with Santa Barbara shooting 50% and sinking 21 of their 42 total shots. Cal State Fullerton, however, relied on offensive rebounding and made only 26 of 73 shot attempts.

Over 50% of the Gauchos' points were three-pointers, while Fullerton shot just 10% from beyond the arc, going 2 for 19. The Gauchos hold the second best three-point defense in the nation, a point heavily a

The post Cal State Fullerton Snaps Gauchos’ Nine-Game Winning Streak With 62-61 Victory appeared first on The Santa Barbara Independent.

SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. (KEYT). - Sophomore Hamad Mousa finished with a game high 26 points Thursday evening and fellow guard Peter Bandelj produced the go-ahead and eventual game-winning layup (left) with 18 seconds remaining as the Cal Poly men’s basketball program resumed Big West play and opened 2026 with a 67-65 victory against defending conference champion UC San Diego.

Bandelj added 15 points for Cal Poly (6-9, 2-1), which snapped UC San Diego’s 16-game winning streak against Big West opponents dating to Jan. 18, 2025.

Held scoreless for the final four minutes, UC San Diego clung to a 65-64 advantage following a missed three-pointer by guard Alex Chaikin with 38 seconds to play. Mustang junior guard Jake Davis rebounded and, following a Cal Poly timeout, Bandelj drove the left baseline with his layup to place Cal Poly in front.

At the other end of Mott Athletics Center, an attempt at the rim from Tritons guard Leo Beath bounded off the iron with Cal Poly sophomore guard Cayden Ward rebounding. Fouled, Ward converted one free throw attempt before a three-pointer from Beath sailed wide at the buzzer.

Prior to the final minute, Cal Poly’s last lead was an 18-16 advantage seven-and-a-half minutes into action. UC San Diego dissolved that edge with a 13-5 run and led by as much as 40-31 two-and-a-half minutes before the break.

Mousa, however, responded for Cal Poly with back-to-back three-pointers and a layup from Ward with a second to go cut UC San Diego’s lead to 42-39 heading into the locker room.

The Tritons, limited to a 21.2 (7-for-33) percent second-half shooting mark, failed to stretch their lead past six points during the second half.

Cal Poly Noteworthy (versus UC San Diego)

Up Next: Cal Poly returns to the road Saturday, Jan. 3, visiting Long Beach State (4-10, 0-2) at 6 p.m. on ESPN+.
A double-digit scorer in all 14 appearances, Hamad Mousa retained the Big West scoring lead, improving his average to 21.0 points per game.
Peter Bandelj, meanwhile, moved to fifth among Big West scorers at 16.1 points per game.
Cayden Ward led all players Thursday with a season best 11 rebounds.
Cal Poly’s Thursday win snapped a five-game series slide versus UC San Diego.
The Mustangs, who entered Thursday’s matchup ranked 12th among NCAA Division I programs with 31.7 three-point attempts per game, attempted a season high 42 against UC San Diego.

(Article courtesy of Cal Poly Athletics)

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By Karina Tsui, CNN

(CNN) — A woman was found dead Thursday on a hiking trail in northern Colorado, in what authorities believe to be a rare fatal mountain lion attack.

Hikers on the Crosier Mountain trail in Larimer County spotted a mountain lion near a person lying on the ground around 12:15 p.m., according to Colorado Parks and Wildlife.

The hikers drove the animal away by throwing rocks before finding the victim had no pulse.

“Mountain lion attacks in Colorado are considered to be very rare,” CPW spokesperson Kara Van Hoose said at a news conference. While 28 previous attacks have been reported to CPW since 1990, the last fatal attack was in 1999, the agency said.

The Larimer County coroner is expected to release the victim’s identity and cause of death, Van Noose said.

CPW, which is leading the investigation, said officers shot at a lion on the scene, and later tracked and euthanized it. Another lion in the area was also euthanized by officers.

Wildlife involved in attacks on humans must be euthanized for public safety, CPW said. The animals will be tested for human DNA to determine whether they were responsible for the attack and will also be examined for any abnormalities or neurological diseases like rabies and avian influenza.

Colorado is home to an estimated 3,800 to 4,000 mountain lions with populations growing since they were classified as a big game species in 1965, according to CPW’s website.

Living mostly in brushy areas and woodlands in low elevation, the animals largely prey on deer and elk.

CPW advises anyone who encounters a mountain lion to make noise, hold objects overhead to appear bigger and slowly back away.

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