ISLA VISTA, Calif. (December 21, 2023) – Junior guard Marcus Dockery (Washington) scored a team-high 24 points on 10-of-17 shooting, including 3-of-4 from downtown, and graduate guard Isiah Warfield (Monaca, Pa.) tallied 20 points, but the shorthanded Bison fell, 94-81, to the University of California Santa Barbara (UCSB) in a nonconference game at the Thunderdome.
 
The loss was the third straight for Howard (4-9), who have played three games in five days.
 
The Bison trailed, 49-41, at the half and battled the Gauchos through most of the second half, but injuries took their toll.
 
Graduate guard Jelani Williams (Washington) did not suit up due to injury while junior guard Bryce Harris (Brentwood, N.Y.) and Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference Preseason Player of the Year Shy Odom (Roxbury, Mass.) played sparingly due to nagging injuries and foul trouble. The two logged only 20 minutes between them.
 
Graduate forward Seth Towns (Columbus, Ohio), the team-leading scorer, finished with only 13 points on 4-of-12 shooting. It was his lowest scoring output of the season.
 
Warfield, who has shown that he is going to an important piece to the Bison's success this season, connected on 7-of-11 from the field, including 3-of-4 from downtown, with three assists and two steals to his stat line.
 
The Bison were able to stay close early as they shot 43-percent from the field in the first 20 minutes, but they could not overcome a 2-for-10 effort from three-point range.
 
UCSB, meanwhile, shot 55-percent from the field, including 6-of-10 from beyond the arc.
 
UCSB (7-3) got a game-high 24 points from Yohan Traore and 21 points and 11 rebounds from Josh Pierre-Louis.
 
NEXT UP: Howard will have a 10-day break to heal injuries before it closes out the 2023 portion Saturday (Dec. 30) when they travel to Philadelphia to take on the Explorers of LaSalle University at 2 p.m.
 
For more information, visit the Bison Athletics website at www.HUBison.com.