The 49ers knew their task going into a contest with UC Riverside Friday night. Win, and they would earn a first-round bye in the Big West Conference tournament.
Stephan Gilling and Greg Plater supplied the firepower as Long Beach State edged the Highlanders, 76-74, to break a three-game losing streak to UCR on senior night at the Walter Pyramid.
It took all 40 minutes, but The Beach (15-15, 8-8 Big West) was finally able to put UCR away as Niko Brooks had his long jump shot smacked away by Casper Ware as time expired. The play culminated a seven-second stretch that had the 4,164 spectators on edge.
Down by two points with 6.8 seconds left, UCR’s Larry Gurganious was called for a traveling violation to give LBSU possession of the ball. The Highlanders then fouled LBSU on the in-bound pass to put Plater at the free-throw line.
Plater, who came into the game shooting 80 percent from the stripe, missed both free throws with 4.8 seconds left, leading to Brooks’ play at the other end.
“You survive and advance [in the Big West tournament],”Beach head coach Dan Monson said. “That was basically our first round game.”
The Beach had a lead as big as 13 points to start the second half, but UCR (12-17, 5-11 Big West) chipped away and eventually tied the game at 66 with just under four minutes to play.
“It’s a fine line and we’ve been living it,” Monson said. “We were in control of that game in a lot of places to blow it open, but this team hasn’t been in that position that much this year. We lost a little bit of intensity on the defensive end and let them back in.”
With the win, LBSU earned a first-round bye in next week’s Big West tournament, and now will wait for Saturday’s games to play out before learning its opponent.
Gilling, a senior, had an impressive performance as he put up all of his team-high 18 points in the first half and finished the game by going 7-of-13 from the field. Plater finished with 17 points for LBSU, going 5-of-7 on 3-point attempts.
“We feed off of each other,” Plater said. “When I see Steph hit a couple of shots, I feel like I have to pick it up too.”
Gurganious paced UCR with a career-high 22 points on 9-of-10 shooting from the field.
LBSU led by as much as 13 points in the first half on the heels of Gilling’s 18-point effort in the opening period. The 49ers played swarming defense in the first half as they held the Highlanders to just one field goal through the first eight-plus minutes.
The Beach did an impressive job of sharing the basketball in the opening period and it led to 10 first half assists.
One of the highlights of the first half was when Ware, listed at 5-foot-10, slammed home a breakaway dunk to ignite the crowd.
Even with the day off to start the Big West tournament, LBSU will have to win three consecutive games to earn a spot in the NCAA tournament. The Beach has not won three games in a row this entire season.
Plater said, “We just have to grind it out and get a little bit tougher, because the intensity level is gonna go up next week.”