Mitchell’s Foul Shots Save 49ers : CS Long Beach: Only 51% from the free-throw line, he makes two in the clutch in an 85-83 victory over San Jose State.

Cal State Long Beach guard Tyrone Mitchell has had trouble shooting free throws all season, but he made two when it counted Saturday night.

Mitchell, a 51% shooter from the foul line, made both ends of a one-and-one with four seconds to play as the 49ers edged San Jose State, 85-83, at the Events Center Arena.

“I was bound to make two in a row one time,” Mitchell said.

The victory gave the 49ers a sweep of their two-game trip and improved their record to 13-5 overall and 6-4 in the Big West Conference.

San Jose fell to 5-12 and 2-6.

But the Spartans nearly pulled the game out with a startling late comeback.

They trailed, 81-73, with a little more than a minute remaining, but Andre Brooks and Tom Desiano made consecutive three-point shots.

Long Beach was still ahead, 83-79, when Brooks hurt the 49ers again. He made two free throws, then stole the ball from Lucious Harris.

After a timeout, Troy Batiste tied the game with a layup with seven seconds left. Mitchell received the inbounds pass and was fouled by Brooks.

“He made a bad decision and gambled,” San Jose Coach Stan Morrison said of Brooks’ foul.

Brooks scored 19 points of his 20 points in the second half.

“I thought we would win,” Morrison said.

“We were lucky tonight,” said 49er Coach Joe Harrington.

Long Beach center Mike Masucci shattered a backboard with a pregame dunk, then kept San Jose at bay most of the second half with his soft shooting.

Masucci, who had his only dunk attempt in the game blocked, led the 49ers with 22 points, 17 in the second half.

“He’s a very good player,” Morrison said of Masucci, a sophomore who formerly played at Kansas.

The game started 20 minutes late because a new backboard had to be put up.

When it finally started, the excitement was provided by Morrison.

He walked halfway onto the court and had to be restrained by his players from going after an official, who had awarded the ball to Long Beach on a deflected pass.

The first half was mostly a free-throw contest. Long Beach made 17 of 25 attempts and San Jose was 16 of 26. There were 31 fouls called in the half.

San Jose’s Charles Terrell was the only player to make three field goals in the first half.

Continuing a recent trend, the 49ers had trouble handling the ball. They had 11 turnovers in the half, during which they shot only 37% from the field.

Neither team had more than a three-point lead in the first 20 minutes. The Spartans scored six points in a row to take a 42-39 lead at the half. It was their first halftime lead in a conference game this season.

Trailing 49-47 early in the second half, the 49ers scored eight consecutive points, a surge sparked by Joseph, who twice scored layups after stealing the ball.