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UC Santa Barbara drops Long Beach State in Big West final

Sat 13th, March 2010

Anaheim, CA (Sports Network) - Orlando Johnson finished with 20 points as UC Santa Barbara pulled out a 69-64 win over Long Beach State in the Big West Conference Tournament final.

James Nunnally added 19 points for the top-seeded Gauchos (20-9), who secured the automatic NCAA Tournament berth with their second-ever Big West tourney title. UCSB's only other victory in this tournament came in 2002.

"I thought back to all this hard work that we put in, I figured it had to pay off," Johnson said. "We worked so hard, nine months strong, ever since the beginning of the summer we had one goal, which was to get here and make the tournament."

Casper Ware had 19 points to pace the third-seeded 49ers (17-16), who were looking for their fifth Big West tourney title. T.J. Robinson and Greg Plater added 15 and 14 points, respectively, in the loss.

"We just didn't quite play good enough," Long Beach State head coach Dan Monson said. "You can sit here as a coach and bemoan our execution or your rebounding or whatever. But the bottom line is they made plays and they beat us."

UCSB led 47-37 after James Powell connected on a three-pointer with a little under 13 minutes to play, but Long Beach State charged back with a 10-0 run to even the game. Ware's fastbreak layup with 9 1/2 minutes left capped the rally.

The game remained close down the stretch, and with 2:09 left, Robinson's layup had the 49ers within 60-59. However, at the other end, Nunnally drained a three to provide a two-possession edge for UCSB.

Ware then sank two free throws with 1:45 on the clock, and neither team scored again until Robinson went to the line with 28.8 seconds remaining. He made just 1-of-2 to keep Long Beach State down a point, 63-62.

The 49ers fouled Powell, who made both attempts to make it a three-point game. Instead of trying for the long-distance shot, Long Beach State tried to get a quick basket. However, Ware missed a floater, and Stephan Gilling was called for an offensive foul going back up with the rebound.

Powell and Nunnally each sank two more free throws in the remaining time to seal the win.

The Gauchos built up a 10-point lead late in the first half, but Long Beach State ended the period on a Plater three and Robinson layup to get within 35-30 at the break.

UCSB continued to play in front in the second half, and consecutive baskets from Jaime Serna about three minutes in had the Gauchos up 41-32.

Game Notes

UCSB will go into the NCAA tourney on a three-game win streak. The Gauchos have won nine of their last 10...Long Beach State had won its previous three...The teams split the regular season series.