A comeback rally by the Long Beach State men’s basketball team was spoiled in the final second Thursday night, as a layup by UC Santa Barbara’s Michael Bryson at the buzzer beat the 49ers, 65-64.
The 49ers did well to even make it close enough for a buzzer beater, though, as they trailed by as 13 with 9:43 to go.
“It was a good basketball game, and I’m proud of our guys for making it that,” head coach Dan Monson said. “We started good and ended good, but the middle of the game, we just couldn’t get in sync.”
LBSU (10-14, 6-4 Big West) had all the momentum and held a comfortable lead for much of the first half. But that lead gradually disappeared, and at the 4:52 mark, UCSB’s Al Williams made a basket in the paint to tie it at 26.
The 49ers couldn’t stop the bleeding and went into the locker room at halftime trailing by seven.
Through much of the second half, it didn’t look like LBSU was going to be able to recover. With the energy just about gone from the 3,629 fans and attendance and the 49ers trailing by 13, it looked as if the Gauchos (16-6, 7-2 Big West) would cruise to victory.
Instead, LBSU took control and made a game of it. Branford Jones made a couple key shots off the bench, including a 3-pointer to tie it at 60 with 4:35 remaining. A jumper by Tyler Lamb a couple minutes later gave the 49ers their first lead since the first half.
Tension was high for the remaider of the game as the 49ers and Gauchos kept it a defensive game. With the 49ers down by one inside of a minute to play, Dan Jennings was fouled on his way to the basket. Neither free throw went in.
“A lot of times we have Dan [Jennings] out at the end of the game,” Monson said. “But if you miss, who’s going to guard Al Williams at the other end? You have to go with the flow with the game, and I’ve been feeling good about Dan [Jennings] at the line.”
Even with the missed free throws, the 49ers almost pulled out a win. They forced a missed shot on the other end and took a 64-63 lead five seconds later when Mike Caffey made a pair of free throws of his own.
UCSB then had 16 seconds left to make a shot. The Gauchos fed it inside to Williams, but the UCSB big man saw his hook shot clang off the rum with two seconds on the clock. It looked like the win would go to the 49ers, but UCSB grabbed the offensive rebound, and Bryson hit a layup under the basket just as time expired.
“It’s a tough game when you lose at the last second,” Lamb said. “It makes you think about little things like free throws and missed box outs and not executing plays, and all of that stuff counts.”
With the loss, the 49ers are likely out of the Big West regular season title picture. However, Monson said despite going -0-4 against the conference’s top two teams, UCSB and UC Irvine, the 49ers would still have a chance to beat them in the Big West tournament.
“It’s a big concern; right now those two teams are better than us,” he said. “But that doesn’t mean they’ll be better than us a month from now. We’re three possessions away from being 3-1 against those teams.”