After Brawls, 49ers Beat Santa Barbara
Jeff Rogers turned a steal in overtime into the winning free throw Saturday night as Cal State Long Beach defeated UC Santa Barbara, 72-70, in a fight-marred Big West Conference game.
It was the 13th consecutive home victory for Long Beach (16-9, 10-6). Santa Barbara fell to 18-7 and 11-5.
The game was halted twice because of brawls--one that involved players and another that occurred when three fans in the sellout crowd of 1,983 in the University Gymnasium got into a fight with Gaucho players during a timeout.
The first incident occurred with 13:33 to play and Santa Barbara leading, 44-41. It resulted in the ejection of four players after Kason Jackson of Santa Barbara punched Rogers when action was stopped. After reviewing videotape, referee Norm Borucki ejected Duane Carter of Santa Barbara and redshirt freshman Sonny Alvarado and reserves Carlos Dew and Rod Hannibal of Long Beach, but not Jackson.
The second incident occurred slightly more than a minute later when two fans took Santa Barbara guard Idris Jones to the floor during a timeout.
Long Beach led, 70-68, with 22 seconds remaining in overtime when Rogers stole the ball from Davis. Davis stumbled trying to recover and fouled Rogers.
Rogers sank the first of two free throws for a 71-68 lead.
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