Harris finishes strong to lift Santa Barbara

Alex Harris scored eight of his team-high 18 points in the last 6:13, helping UC Santa Barbara hold off Eastern Washington, 58-51, in a nonconference game Saturday night at Cheney, Wash.

Ivan Elliott had 11 points and nine rebounds for the Gauchos (11-2).

Kellen Williams had 23 points and 10 rebounds for the Eagles (6-9).

A three-point basket by Harris from the wing -- Santa Barbara’s final field goal of the game -- pushed the Gauchos’ lead to 52-43 before Eastern Washington made a late surge. A putback by Williams pulled the Eagles to within 54-50 with 3:36 left.

Santa Barbara held Eastern Washington to a single point the rest of the way.

In the first half, Williams’ three-pointer gave Eastern its biggest lead, 20-15, with 8:12 left.

UCSB answered with a 15-3 burst, sparked by Elliott’s basket in the lane and finished by Harris’ inside move that put the Gauchos up, 30-23, with 1:20 left in the half. Santa Barbara never trailed again.

St. Mary’s 69, Cal State Fullerton 59 -- Ian O’Leary and Diamon Simpson both had double-doubles as the host Gaels (12-1) rallied from a five-point second-half deficit to defeat the Titans (7-4) to win the championship game of the Shamrock Office Solutions Classic at Moraga, Calif.

O’Leary had 14 points and 10 rebounds for the second straight night, and Simpson overcame a slow start to finish with 12 points and 15 rebounds.

Josh Akognon led Fullerton with 16 points. Frank Robinson and Marcus Crenshaw each had 13 for the Titans.

Bucknell 61, Long Beach State 57 -- John Griffin had 15 points and Josh Linthicum scored off a pair of offensive rebounds in the final 70 seconds to lead the Bison (5-7) over the 49ers (3-8) in the consolation game of the Golden Bear Classic at Berkeley.

G.W. Boon and Justin Castleberry scored 12 points apiece for Bucknell, which had lost seven of nine before holding off a late run by the 49ers.

Donovan Morris scored 19 of his career-high 27 points in the second half, but it wasn’t enough for the 49ers, who shot only 20.8% in the first half.

Southern Utah 61, Cal Poly San Luis Obispo 53 -- Tate Sorenson had 26 points and 10 rebounds to lead the visiting Thunderbirds (3-10) over the Mustangs (5-7).

Southern Utah had lost to Cal Poly, 73-66, on Nov. 20.

Trae Clark led Cal Poly with 13 points.