Maybe it was the 9 p.m. tip-off, but the Long Beach State men’s basketball team was sluggish all night offensively as it escaped with a narrow victory over UC Santa Barbara.
The Beach (12-8, 8-1 Big West Conference) defeated the Gauchos (7-13, 3-6 Big West), 57-55 Wednesday night for its seventh straight win overall and 22nd consecutive at home against Big West opponents.
With the score tied at 55, Mike Caffey was fouled at least 40 feet from the basket with less than eight seconds remaining in the contest.
The sophomore guard then stepped up to the line, converted both free throws and put all the pressure on the Gauchos.
A desperation 3-point attempt by junior guard Kyle Boswell fell short at the buzzer, much to the delight of 3,924 49er faithful.
“Mike’s a big competitor,” LBSU head coach Dan Monson said. “The moment has never been an issue with him.”
Despite UCSB’s star center Alan Williams sitting out due to injury, the ‘Niners struggled against their rival all night and were never able to pull away.
The Beach had only four assists on the night, while posting 18 turnovers and shooting just 37 percent from the field. It did, however, hold the Gauchos to 33.9 percent shooting.
Santa Barbara jumped out to an early 7-0 lead and eventually led 20-12, but the ‘Niners responded with an 18-8 spurt and took a 30-28 advantage into the break.
Monson said the team’s continued improvement on the defensive end was the key to holding on for the win.
“It was just one of those games,” he said. “We came out early and we were kind of excited. I thought we were really focused, and then we were 1-for-13. To their credit, a month ago, I don’t think they would have won this game. This is a character win.”
Monson said that despite the ugly statistics, there were plenty of positives to take away from the game.
“The mark of a good team is the one that wins games when they don’t have their A-game,” he said. “I don’t even know if we had our B-game today offensively. Defensively we held our second opponent in a row under 60 points. We stayed on task right down to the last play and were able to dig out a win. It’s a lot better to play bad and win than it is to play bad and lose.”
Senior guard James Ennis tallied 16 points, four assists, one block and one steal while extending his streak of double-digit scoring to 25 games.
“Our defense was good,” Ennis said. “We kept them under 60. That was our game plan coming in, so that was a plus on our side. It was an off day for us, but we just stuck through it and got the job done.”
Junior guard Tony Freeland also came up big for the Beach, compiling 16 points and nine rebounds, both season-highs.
Boswell paced Santa Barbara with 13 points and three assists, including three three-pointers on seven attempts.
LBSU returns to action Saturday when it hosts Cal Poly (9-10, 5-4 Big West) at 4:05 p.m. The contest will be televised on Fox Sports Prime Ticket.
The Mustangs defeated the ‘Niners 79-73 earlier this month in San Luis Obispo.