SANTA BARBARA, Calif. (AP) Alan Williams scored 19 points and gathered 15 rebounds as UC Santa Barbara edged UC Riverside 55-54 on Thursday.
Santa Barbara (17-7, 8-3 Big West) built an 11-point halftime lead, but Riverside (8-18, 3-9) scored the first eight points of the second half to cut its deficit to three and finally tied the game at 47 with 3:16 left on a pair of Taylor Johns free throws.
Williams went to work, scoring Santa Barbara's next six points to put the Gauchos up five with 27 seconds left.
Austin Quick hit a trey with 7 seconds left and Riverside fouled Zalmico Harmon on the inbounds play. Harmon hit both free throws for a four-point lead, which was necessary as Quick drained another trey with 1 second on the clock to provide the 1-point decision.
Johns led Riverside with 13 points and 10 boards.
