SAN LUIS OBISPO – Winter break has seen the Long Beach State men’s basketball team earn tough wins and struggle with inconsistency, but it ended on a good note Saturday at Cal Poly.
Faced with the task of winning in an environment that no visiting Big West team had won in for more than a year, the 49ers avoided a 1-3 start to conference play by holding off a Cal Poly rally in the final minutes and taking a 63-62 win over the Mustangs.
The win helped erase the sour taste of a loss at UC Santa Barbara two days earlier during which the 49ers struggled to score points.
“It’s a league road win in a place where they’ve been very good here for the last couple years,” head coach Dan Monson said. “To beat these guys at home, you really have to have some toughness.”
LBSU (6-12, 2-2 Big West) didn’t get off to the best of starts, falling behind 15-4 over the first five minutes. With 11 minutes remaining in the half, though, the 49ers went on a 17-0 run that Monson said may have been inspired by a trip to the movies the day before.
“We went to the movie ‘Lone Survivor’ yesterday,” he said. “I asked them what they got out of that today… and I really felt that they were going to come together. I really think they took a lot out of that, just how precious brotherhood is.”
The 49ers took a 32-29 lead into halftime and came out with a different energy than they had two days prior, when they were outscored by 10 to open the second half at UCSB.
Instead, the ‘Niners maintained their lead and expanded it to double digits with less than three minutes to go.
“What was nice here was the start of the second half was good,” Monson said. “The way we started the second half Thursday got us beat more than the start. I just had a sense about them today that they were going to be ready when they settled down.”
Over the last three minutes, though, the 49ers’ 10-point lead nearly disappeared. Cal Poly forward Chris Eversley hit a three with 14 seconds to go, bringing the score to 63-62.
The Mustangs (7-10, 3-1 Big West) then fouled Mike Caffey with five seconds on the clock to send him to the free throw line for a one-and-one. Caffey missed the first free throw, giving Cal Poly a chance to win the game on a buzzer beater.
The Mustangs got the ball down the court, but Jamal Johnson saw his last-second 3-point attempt hit the back of the rim and pop up into the air only to fall harmlessly to the hardwood floor as the buzzer sounded.
“We just had to believe in each other and play for each other,” guard A.J. Spencer said.
LBSU will now have a week of rest and practice before their next game. Next up on the schedule is a home game against Cal State Northridge on Saturday.