Long Beach Overcomes a Shooting Deficiency : College basketball: The 49ers make only 57.6% of their foul shots but still defeat UC Irvine, 66-63.

Cal State Long Beach had its usual difficulty shooting free throws Friday night, making only 57.6%. But the last two, by Kevin Cutler with 10 seconds to play, enabled the 49ers to defeat UC Irvine, 66-63, before 1,779 in the university gym.

The victory ended a three-game losing streak and improved Long Beach’s record to 5-8 overall and 1-3 in the Big West Conference.

“When you lose three games like we have, you almost don’t think you’ll ever win again,” Long Beach Coach Seth Greenberg said.

Irvine, which fell to 7-10 and 2-3, lost because of its poor free-throw shooting. The Anteaters were only 50% from the line in the second half and made two of eight during a five-minute stretch during which they lost a 12-point lead.

A layup by Ricky Butler with 25 seconds left cut the Long Beach lead to 64-62. It was a position the 49ers had been in before this season, but this time they didn’t fall apart, even though Troy Joseph missed two free throws with 22 seconds to play.

Irvine’s Gerald McDonald was then fouled with 11 seconds left. He made the first free throw but missed the second. The rebound went to Cutler, who was fouled.

Cutler, who was shooting 61.8% from the line this season, made both shots. McDonald then missed in an attempt to tie the score.

“I told Coach Greenberg that when the game’s on the line, I want to be in there,” Cutler said.

Cutler led Long Beach with 18 points, but the 49ers got their biggest lift from Joseph, who scored 13 points and had 10 rebounds.

Joseph also held Irvine’s Jeff Herdman, who had 14 points in the first half, to one basket in the second half.

“Troy Joseph hadn’t practiced all week because of a hip pointer,” Greenberg said. “Being an Orange County kid, there was no way he wasn’t going to play. It seemed like when we couldn’t generate anything, he got every offensive rebound. He was just magnificent.”

With Herdman and Butler combining for 29 points, the Anteaters opened a 36-27 halftime lead--despite shooting only 33% from the field. Irvine made 30.7% of its shots in the second half.

“We out and out got beat,” said Irvine Coach Bill Mulligan, noting the final statistics. “We shot 32% from the floor and 61% from the line. Offensively, we didn’t get the job done. And they hurt us inside.”

Lucious Harris had 15 points for the 49ers and made a three-point shot during a 9-0 surge that lifted the 49ers into a 52-47 lead.

The score was 58-58 when Frankie Edwards scored three consecutive points to put the 49ers ahead for good.