Santa Barbara Balance Beats Fullerton, 85-72

Five players scored in double figures Saturday night to help visiting UC Santa Barbara defeat Cal State Fullerton, 85-72, in a Big West Conference game before an announced 1,602.

Lelan McDougal scored 20 points, Dane Prince had 18, Kealon Wallace had 16, Bakir Allen had 15 and Mark Flick had 10 for Santa Barbara (10-9, 7-4), which moved into third place in the conference standings, half a game behind front-running UC Irvine and Long Beach State, both 7-3.

Wallace had 10 rebounds.

Fullerton guard Chris Dade led all scorers with 24 points and made five three-point shots. John Williams had 19 points, Chuck Overton scored 14, and Brian Thomas had 10 for the Titans (5-14, 4-7).

Santa Barbara got a three-point basket from Bakir Allen with 9:16 to play in the first half to tie the score, 25-25, and in the next six minutes the Gauchos outscored Fullerton, 16-3, for a 41-28 lead.

Fullerton whittled away at the lead early in the second half, cutting it to 55-52, but layups by Allen and Flick and Flick’s three-point basket made it 62-54 and out of reach.