Ending a 12-year NCAA Tournament drought, The Beach caps off a 74-70 upset win in the Big West Championship game over UC Davis during an emotional roller-coaster week. All amidst the news of head coach Dan Monson being let go after this season, seemingly galvanizing the team.
“We had an up and down year, but they came in here and they played for each other,” Monson said. “We quit playing together and started playing for each other.”
LBSU will be making their 10th appearance in the NCAA Tournament in large thanks to clutch performances from senior guard Marcus Tsohonis with 25 points and junior forward Lassina Traore, who finished with a career-high 25 points on an efficient 12-17 shooting night.
Neither team would score in the first four minutes of the game until junior forward Aboubacar Traore threw down a poster slam dunk on top of Davis’ junior seven-foot forward Francesco Borra to get The Beach on the board.
UC Davis would open just 1-12 from the field, LBSU would take advantage and open up a double-digit lead early going up 15-5 behind an early scoring flurry from Tsohonis.
The No. 2 seeded Aggies would reinsert themselves back in the contest with a 20-2 run lead by Big West Player of the Year, senior guard Elijah Pepper. The 18-point swing completely flipped the game’s momentum.
Playing their third game in as many days, The Beach would weather the storm, managing to limit the damage going into halftime only down by five. Tsohonis kept LBSU afloat scoring 15 first-half points as he was willing his team into the break.
After the Aggies opened up their largest lead of the night at eight points, the defensive activity on the LBSU side would ramp up starting with a big block from junior guard Jadon Jones.
The Beach would reclaim the lead after a three-pointer from Jones, amid a 13-2 run, getting the Long Beach State fans in attendance at the Dollar Loan Center all onto their feet.
UC Davis junior guard Ty Johnson did all he could to keep the Aggies alive after going down by six in the final minutes, scoring a season-high 30 points. The Beach would counter by feeding the “big man” Lassina Traore, scoring 19 points in the second half.
A turnover on an LBSU inbounds pass would turn into a Pepper three, cutting the lead in half with 2:36 left, with The Beach up 66-63. Johnson would follow up with a lay-up on their next trip down the court to cut the lead to a single point.
Long Beach State would respond with a Lassina Traore bucket, proceeded by Tsohonis being fouled on a mid-range fadeaway as the shot clock expired, sending him to the line to extend the lead four.
From then on, UC Davis would have to play the foul game. LBSU would be solid from the line all night going 14-16 en route and cling on to the 74-70 victory to clinch the Big West Championship.
As for Monson, the team prevails and lives to see another day of his illustrious 17-year coaching tenure at The Beach, in a rigorous road to the top that saw them beat UC Riverside and knock off No. 1 seeded UC Irvine.
“I don’t think this is my last [run], I love coaching, I love teams, I need a new challenge. It’s life, it’s onto the next chapter,” Monson said postgame. Indicating that this will not be his last year coaching once his time is up in Long Beach.
The Beach will await their next opponent, as Selection Sunday looms and the tournament begins Thursday, March 21.