Nov. 29, 2008

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NORMAL, Ill. – Despite having three players score in double figures and notwithstanding a season-best 40 percent shooting performance from the field, the Rams of Winston-Salem State fell in defeat to the Gauchos of the University of California-Santa Barbara on Saturday evening in day one action from the World Vision Invitational hosted by Illinois State University.

The Rams hit four of their first five shots in the contest en route to opening up a six-point advantage over the Gauchos, but could not continue their hot shooting as WSSU cooled off as they would hit only nine of their first 26 first-half shots (34.6 percent).

UCSB used 11 second-chance points and 12 points in the paint during the game's first 20 minutes of play as they erased WSSU's advantage and mounted a run of their own, using a 24-13 run during the final 12 minutes of half to take a 71-58 lead into the halftime intermission.

Second half action saw the Gauchos open the half with a 20-9 run as UCSB pushed their lead to a game-high 20 points with 13 minutes to play in the contest. 

Trailing by 20 points the Rams mounted a run of their own as WSSU cut the UC Santa Barbara lead to only nine points with little more than four minutes to play on a pair of Isiah Tucker free throws.

However, the Gauchos put the Rams away with a quick 5-0 run on a pair of layups and a free throw as UCSB relegated WSSU to 0-4 on the season.

The Rams were led by Jamal Durham and Isiah Tucker who each tallied 13 points in the loss.  Joining Durham and Tucker in double-figures, Brian Fisher recorded 12 points in his first action since suffering an ankle injury on Nov. 18.

Leading the Gauchos was Chris Devine who recorded 12 points and 10 rebounds in a winning effort.

UCSB improves to 2-3 on the season while the Rams fall to 0-4 with the loss.  The Rams return to action on Saturday as they face the host-team Redbirds of Illinois State University in day two action from the World Vision Invitational at 7:00 p.m. Eastern.

For additional information on Winston-Salem State men's basketball, contact the WSSU Office of Athletic Media Relations at (336) 750-2143 or log on to the Official Website of Rams Athletics at WSSURams.com.