Fullerton Drops Long Beach in Overtime

Cal State Long Beach had the ball and a three-point lead with only four seconds left to killSaturday night. And then the 49ers were stunned by Cal State Fullerton.

Tyrone Mitchell’s inbounds pass went straight to the Titans’ Mark Hill at the top of the circle. Hill promptly hit a three-pointer to tie the game, 62-62, and send it into overtime.

Then, with six seconds left in the extra period, Cedric Ceballos drove the lane for a layup that gave the Titans a 68-66 Big West Conference victory before a sellout crowd of 2,230 in the Long Beach gym.

The 49ers finished the regular season at 13-14 overall and 10-8 in the Big West. Had they won, they would have been the seeded fourth in next week’s conference tournament at the Long Beach Arena.

Instead, they are No. 6 and will play UC Santa Barbara.

Fullerton (15-12 and 10-8) gets the fourth spot and will meet Utah State.

Ceballos had 23 points and 15 rebounds, and Hill scored 21 points. Marco Fleming led the 49ers with a career-high 27 points and 14 rebounds.

When Jeff Eastin hit a three-pointer with 1:17 left in regulation, the 49ers had a 60-55 lead. But a dunk by Ceballos brought the Titans to within 61-59 with four seconds to play. And when Bobby Sears was fouled intentionally, victory seemed imminent for Long Beach.

Sears made only one of his two foul shots, but the 49ers retained possession under the Fullerton basket.

“He was trying to hit it off Ceballos’ back to get the ball back, but it came right to me,” Hill said of Mitchell’s pass.

After the 49ers lost a chance to take the lead when Sears shot an airball, the Titans called a timeout with 22 seconds to play.

When an attempt to set up Derek Jones for a shot failed, the Titans got the ball to Ceballos at the top of the key.

“The lane just opened up, and I took it to the hole,” Ceballos said.