Long Beach State Is in Cruise Control, 88-79

This time Long Beach State didn’t need any overtime miracle shots against Fullerton. Instead the 49ers had no trouble handing the Titans an 88-79 loss Wednesday night at the Pyramid.

In sweeping the season series for the first time in four years, Long Beach, 12-11 overall, 7-5 in the Big West Conference, shot 53.1% from the field (34 for 64) and made 14 three-point baskets, equaling the team record set against Fullerton when the teams played their overtime thriller on Jan. 19. Four players finished in double figures, led by Jibril Hodges with 17.

The victory moved the 49ers into third place in the Big West and the team is looking to solidify or improve its position for the conference tournament.

“Obviously we’d like to get in third, and if something catastrophic happens [to Irvine] and we got into second we’d enjoy that too,” 49er Coach Larry Reynolds said. “In this league, with everything being so tight, you never know. But we’d definitely like to get [a bye].”

Fullerton (11-11, 4-8), which dropped to sixth in the conference, fell behind early. Six of the 49ers’ first eight baskets were from three-point range, and Long Beach finished 11 for 21 from behind the arc.

At halftime the 49ers were in charge, 49-26. Long Beach opened a 21-point lead (59-38) three minutes into the second half.

Fullerton, which put on a late flourish to make the score respectable, was led by Justin Burns, who had 21 points.

-- Mike Terry

UC Irvine 63, UC Riverside 37 -- Darren Fells had 11 points and eight rebounds and the host Anteaters guaranteed a top-two finish in the Big West and an automatic berth into the semifinals of next month’s conference tournament.

Irvine (14-11, 10-3) has pulled within percentage points of Big West leader Pacific as the conference schedule winds down.

The loss drops Riverside (3-19, 3-8) into last place.

With the score tied, 12-12, with 8:14 to play in the first half, Irvine went on a 23-0 run that featured four three-point baskets. The Anteaters entered halftime with a 35-12 lead.

Riverside shot 18.5% in the first half. Steve Williams led the Highlanders with 10 points.

UC Santa Barbara 64, Cal Poly San Luis Obispo 37 -- The host Gauchos (11-11, 4-6 Big West) limited the Mustangs (7-15, 5-5) to 21.3% shooting to win their fourth in a row.

The Gauchos got 14 points from Cecil Brown and 12 from Cameron Goettsche.

Derek Stockalper led the Mustangs with seven points.

The 37-point total was their lowest since scoring 35 against Boise State on Dec. 13, 1994 in their first season in Division I.