49ers’ Harris Hooks the ‘Horns : CS Long Beach: Freshman comes off the bench to hit a three-point basket at the buzzer and beat Texas, 89-87.

With six seconds left in the game and Cal State Long Beach trailing by a point Wednesday night, Coach Joe Harrington made the right move: He put freshman Lucious Harris back into the game.

“It doesn’t take a genius to make a substitution like that,” Harrington said after Harris sank a three-point shot as time elapsed to give the 49ers an 89-87 victory over previously undefeated University of Texas.

“I just think the guy does great things at the end of a game,” Harrington said of the guard from Cleveland High in Reseda who two weeks ago made a steal in the last 10 seconds that led to Long Beach’s victory over Purdue.

Harrington, though, had not designed the final play for Harris. Tyrone Mitchell was supposed to drive, but he was unable to get the ball. With three seconds left, Kenny Jarvis passed to center Mike Masucci, but Masucci was well beyond his shooting range.

Harris said he thought Masucci might try to put up a shot anyway.

“Mike,” he yelled.

Above the screams of 8,051 fans at the Erwin Center, Masucci heard Harris and passed the ball to him.

“I had to get it to a shooter, and Lucious is a great shooter,” Masucci said.

Harris caught the ball and swished the shot from about 22 feet, easily beyond the three-point line.

“I just shot it,” said Harris, who had made only three of his previous eight shots--and only one from outside. “I saw it in all the way.”

The shot impressed Texas Coach Tom Penders.

“Let’s give the kid credit for knocking it down, that was a heck of a big-time shot,” Penders said.

Long Beach, which improved to 5-1, had several players who had big-time games.

Forward Troy Joseph scored 25 points and hit a three-point basket from the corner with 34 seconds to play to get the 49ers to within 87-86.

Forward Kevin Cutler scored 22 points and had a game-high 14 rebounds as the 49ers outrebounded Texas, 50-40.

And Mitchell, who played 39 minutes, had 10 points and six steals, and his tight guarding kept Texas star Travis Mays from shooting from three-point range.

Mays, who had made 11 of 31 three-pointers going into the game, got off only four of those shots against Mitchell, making one.

Mays was allowed to drive instead, and continuously drew fouls. He scored 27 points, but 14 of them came from the free-throw line.

With Long Beach trailing, 85-81, Mitchell missed a long shot, but Cutler scored after making a swooping, one-handed rebound. But the lead was back to 87-83 after a layup by Locksley Collie.

After Joseph made his three-point basket, Cutler fouled Lance Blanks and grabbed the rebound when Blanks missed the front end of a one-and-one. The 49ers worked the ball around before calling a timeout with six seconds to play. Harris then came in to finish off the Longhorns (3-1).

The victory avenged a 117-86 victory by Texas last season in Long Beach.

“They are a very good team and I don’t think the people around here--the TV and newspaper people--believed me when I told them that,” Penders said.