March 13, 2009

Box Score

LONG BEACH, Calif. - Long Beach State's frantic rally came up short in the semifinals of the Big West Tournament as the 49ers dropped a 65-60 decision to Pacific at the Anaheim Convention Center Friday night.

The Beach trailed by seven twice in the last 2:54 but cut the Tigers (19-11) lead to two with 2:02 to play and then to one with 45 seconds to play and again with 15 seconds to play, but Pacific iced the win with four free throws in the last seven seconds to end the 49ers' (15-15) season.

Pacific looked to be in control but a hectic full-court press forced the Tigers into a number of mistakes. After a 3-pointer by Donovan Morris cut the Pacific lead from seven to four with 2:40 to play, a steal by Casper Ware led to a Larry Anderson dunk and a five-point Pacific lead with just two minutes left.

After Pacific pushed the lead back to seven, Anderson had a steal with 56 seconds to play that led to a pair of free throws by T.J. Robinson to cut the lead to three. Another Pacific turnover led to a layup by Ware to make it a one-point game. Pacific answered with a pair of free throws, but senior Maurice Clady came away with another steal that led to a Robinson layup and another one-point game with just 15 seconds left. But the rallied died there. Pacific drained two free throws to extend the lead back to three and Morris couldn't answer missing a three with three seconds to play. Pacific grabbed the rebound, was fouled and finished LBSU off with two free throws with one second to play.

Robinson led The Beach with 21 points, while Morris added 13 points. Pacific canned 11-of-20 3-pointers in the game, led by Chad Troyer who made 6-of-9 and finished with a game-high 22 points. Long Beach State answered making just 4-of-20 threes and only 40.8 percent of its total field goal attempts.

Long Beach State hung tight in the first half despite struggling from 3-point range. The Beach connected on just 1-of-9 from three before the break, but was an efficient 9-of-14 inside the arc to trail by just three at halftime.

Pacific came out hot hitting their first three shots, two from 3-point range to build an early five-point lead. The Beach cut it to one on a jump hook by Eugene Phelps, but the Tigers scored the next eight points to take their biggest lead of the half, 20-11, with 8:35 to play. LBSU rallied out-scoring Pacific 15-9 the remainder of the half to make it 29-26 at the break.

Robinson led the 49ers with eight points and three boards in the first half on 3-of-4 shooting. Morris added seven points but no one else made more than one basket. Pacific had four players with five or more points at halftime. The Tigers connected on half, 5-of-10, of their 3-pointers while shooting 45.5 percent from the floor.