GREEN BAY (NBC 26) — The Green Bay men’s basketball team relied on a sharp performance from long range to secure a 67–64 victory over UC Santa Barbara on Wednesday night at the Kress Center. The Phoenix connected on 52.4 percent of their shots from three-point range, playing a key role in the close win.
Marcus Hall paced Green Bay with a season-best 25 points as the Phoenix improved to 6–7 on the year. Preston Ruedinger played a major role in facilitating the offense, finishing with eight points and a career-high 13 assists. Ramel Bethea, Keegan Van Kauwenberg, and Mac Wrecke each contributed six points to the scoring effort.
UC Santa Barbara was led by Aidan Mahaney, who scored 18 points. CJ Shaw, Colin Smith, and Hosana Kitenge followed with 10 points apiece for the Gauchos.
Following the game, head coach Doug Gottlieb announced during his postgame press conference that he will step away from The Gottlieb Show on Fox Sports Radio for the foreseeable future.
Recap:
Green Bay jumped out to an early advantage, opening the game on a 15–4 run behind nine early points from Hall. The Phoenix maintained control throughout the first half and entered the break with a 42–30 lead. Three-point shooting fueled the offense, as Green Bay drained 10 triples to account for 30 of its first-half points.
The Phoenix extended their lead to 51–42 early in the second half before UC Santa Barbara responded with a 9–1 run, capped by a three-point play from Smith that trimmed the margin to 52–50 with 7:22 remaining. Green Bay answered with a decisive 9–2 stretch of its own, highlighted by a Caden Wilkens layup to push the lead back to nine.
The Gauchos continued to battle and cut the deficit to one on multiple occasions late, but were unable to take the lead. UC Santa Barbara had possession down three points in the final seconds but did not get a shot off before time expired.
Notes:
• Green Bay knocked down 11 of 21 attempts from beyond the arc.
• Ruedinger’s 13 assists tied for the seventh-most in a single game in program history.
• The Phoenix assisted on 82 percent of their made field goals.
• Green Bay led wire-to-wire in the 67–64 win.
• The Phoenix bench held a 19–12 scoring advantage.
• UC Santa Barbara held a 30–20 edge on the glass.
• Hall also led Green Bay with five rebounds.
Green Bay closes out its non-conference slate with a road matchup at Campbell on Tuesday at 11 a.m. CST. The Phoenix will then return to Horizon League play on January 1 at Purdue Fort Wayne.
