Isla Vista, Calif. - Josh Pierre-Louis flirted with a triple-double to lead UC Santa Barbara to a 96-72 victory over the Le Moyne College men's basketball team on Sunday night at The Thunderdome.

Junior forward Ocypher Owens (Orlando, Fla./Orlando Christian Prep/Indian River State) led the Dolphins in scoring for the second straight game by scoring 16 points, 12 of which came in the second half, while adding a team high-tying four rebounds. Graduate student forward Luke Sutherland (Syracuse, N.Y./West Genesee/Siena/Bryant) and graduate student guard Isaiah Salter (Charlotte, N.C./Central Cabarrus/American International/Adelphi) each tallied 13 points, while Sutherland grabbed four rebounds and Salter had three steals. Freshman guard AJ Dancler (Indianapolis, Ind./Southport) finished one point off his career high with 11 points, while adding four assists. Graduate student guard Nate McClure (Houston, Texas/Concordia Lutheran/Texas State/State Fair C.C./IUPUI) was the fifth Dolphin in double figures with 10 points.

Pierre-Louis recorded a double-double of 19 points and 10 assists, while adding seven rebounds. Cole Anderson drained six three-pointers en route to 20 points, including 15 in the first half on 5-of-8 shooting from three-point range. Yohan Traore went 8-of-9 from the field on his way to 18 points, while adding four rebounds. Ajay Mitchell, the reigning Big West Conference Player of the Year and Tournament MVP, netted 15 points and dished out six assists in his season debut. Ariel Bland led all players in the game with 11 rebounds and added eight points and three blocks.

"For the most part, we really fought in the first half," said head coach Nate Champion '14 in his opening statement with radio broadcaster Chris Granozio '86. "There was a time where I thought you know, it could go south quickly and we did a good job of weathering the storm and continuing to fight and making it close in the first half and then in the second half, I thought we kind of wore down, you know when teams are scoring like that it's hard to continue to play through it. I thought we showed good fight. Obviously we had good bench minutes from Isaiah Salter and AJ Dancler and I think we just have to continue to get better. I know you've talked about this a lot, but we're playing some good teams. I mean we're playing some really good teams and it's great for us because what we're getting exposed on is obviously things that we have to get a lot better at. And we know that, we've seen it on film. We continue to watch it on film, continue to drill it in practice and it's gonna pay off. I mean, obviously, you know, Santa Barbara being an NCAA tournament team. They just got their best player back in Ajay Mitchell, who obviously is really good, but I mean, he just shows though, kind of what the standard is, and if you want to win at this level, where we got to get to and the nice thing is we have a hard-working group and we don't show any quit, we continue to fight and although we're getting a couple of lessons right now, we also, I think are getting a lot better. And that's showing up, I mean, you know, back-to-back games, started really hot and good first halfs and kind of worn down in the second half, but I thought we lasted longer in the second half tonight and really fought. Again, like it's just hard when you are continuously giving up size and strength to not wear down. I think we did a good job. We just have to quick turn around and play CSUN but if you look at it, and really examine where we can get better and how we can get better and use tomorrow as a day to do that. And then we got to be ready to go for Tuesday."

The teams traded three-pointers over the opening four minutes of the game. Graduate student guard Mike DePersia (Cherry Hill, N.J.//IUPUI) evened the game with a three-pointer and then Sutherland buried a pair around a three-pointer from Anderson.

The Gauchos answered with a 25-5 run over the next six minutes to take a 17-point lead for the first time. Anderson drilled four three-pointers in the stretch, including back-to-back at the end, while Bland and Mitchell each converted a pair of shots.

Le Moyne answered with a 12-4 to trim its deficit back to nine with just over six minutes left. McClure started the run with a three-pointer and DePersia capped it with one of his own, while Dancler, Owens and Sutherland each scored in the paint.

Santa Barbara pushed its lead back to 16 with seven straight points in a span of 36 seconds, while Le Moyne countered with a 10-2 run to get within eight, 46-38, with 2:57 remaining. McClure and Salter each had a three-pointer and a two-point basket in the span.

Following four points from each team, Pierre-Louis made two free throws with three seconds left to put the Gauchos up 52-42 at the intermission.

After the teams traded points over the opening five minutes of the second half, the Gauchos scored seven straight points to take a 19-point advantage. Traore, a transfer from Auburn, started the run with a lay-up, Jason Fontenet II followed with a jumper and then Anderson connected on a three-pointer.

Following a conventional three-point play from Dancler and a free throw from Salter to pull Le Moyne within 71-56 with 9:59 left, Santa Barbara rattled off 12 of the next 13 points. Mitchell ignited the run with a three-pointer and a lay-up, Matija Belic had a fast-break lay-up and then Pierre-Louis had a dunk and then a three-pointer with 6:21 to play.

The teams traded points the remainder of the game as UCSB's lead bounced between 22 and 27 points.

Le Moyne (1-4) is back in action on Tuesday night at CSUN at 7:00 p.m. PT/10:00 p.m. ET.

Additional quotes from head coach Nate Champion '14
On limiting transition and scoring in the paint…
"That was a big emphasis for us. Obviously, they only had eight fastbreak points which came a little later in the game. I thought the just overall like balance of our team tonight was good and we just have to continue to get better. Finally, we shot better from the free throw line as well. I mean, we made 10-of-14, which I still think we can get better at and we will as the season continues on. Obviously the first few games weren't a great representation of what we can do from the free throw line but thought we did more of getting into the paint tonight, which was a big emphasis as well. And 26 points in the paint against a team that is that big, I think helps and I thought Ocypher Owens really battled tonight. You know, he showed some good signs of what he can do just in the interior and the capability of knocking down a shot as well, but I think you're starting to see what he does best is scoring from the inside."
 
On depth being impacted by injuries and foul trouble…
"I mean, like I said, it's hard, like your depth gets exposed when you are down people. But it also gives opportunity to step up and make an impact. And I thought our freshman AJ Dancler did a great job of that tonight, just embracing that moment. Obviously, he hasn't been playing as much as he'd like and we understand that, we talked to him about that. And we're very open, like you're gonna get an opportunity to play at some point and when you do get that opportunity and you make the most of it. Now all of a sudden you get to play more and he showed that he can definitely play on this stage and should play on this stage and like I said opportunity when he gets it. Now he gets a little bit bigger of a role."
 
On what the team can take out the game and use Tuesday at CSUN...
"Well, I think the rhythm of our offense tonight you know, I thought after the start of the game, I think we turned it over four times in like the first eight minutes and then after that, I mean we only we turned it over six times the rest of the game. You know, so I think that's a huge positive for us. I thought we did a better job of scoring on the interior and getting to the free throw line. I mean, we shot more free throws than them tonight. And I think that's just something that we have to continue, we can't fall in love with three-point shots all the time, although we are a good three-point shooting team. I think we just have to understand that that comes out of the rhythm. And when we get into the paint and we get into the interior, it allows for us to get in-rhythm threes and that helps us as well. So, I think we just have to continue to improve on both ends of the floor. And again examine where we could get a lot better and the nice thing is we're nowhere near where we're going to be, you know in a month or so."