Long Beach State Takes Manhattan, 108-94

Shawn Hawkins scored 25 points to lead seven Long Beach State scorers in double figures in the 49ers’ 108-94 victory over Manhattan on Saturday at New York.

Kevin Houston scored 17 points and Kejuan Johnson had 16 for Long Beach State (13-11), which outscored the Jaspers 32-8 in bench points.

Arturo Dubois scored a career-high 27 points and had nine rebounds and three steals for Manhattan (16-9). Jeff Xavier had 21 points, seven rebounds, five assists and four steals, and Devon Austin had 20 points, eight rebounds and three steals, but it wasn’t enough for the Jaspers.

Long Beach State scored 10 of the last 12 points in the first half to take a 50-43 lead. Reserve guard Louis Darby triggered a run of 10 unanswered points and put the 49ers ahead to stay with two free throws that gave them a 42-41 lead with 2:47 left.

Manhattan pulled to within 81-79 on Mike Konovelchick’s layup, but the 49ers responded with an 11-1 run that culminated in Hawkins’ dunk with just under four minutes remaining. The Jaspers drew to within 94-90 on Austin’s two free throws, but never got any closer.

Long Beach State secured the victory with eight consecutive points. Six of those came on free throws by Johnson.

Cal State Fullerton 89, Eastern Washington 63 -- Bobby Brown had 25 points and a season-high nine assists to lead the Titans (12-11) over the visiting Eagles (12-13). Jamaal Brown and Frank Robinson had 16 points apiece for the Titans, who shot a season-best 58.6%.

Rodney Stuckey, the nation’s leading freshman scorer, had 19 points, a season-high nine rebounds and six assists for the Eagles, whose four-game winning streak ended.

UC Santa Barbara 76, San Jose State 72 -- Joe See made two free throws with 2.9 seconds left, allowing the Gauchos (12-11) to hang on for the victory at San Jose.

Cecil Brown had 22 points, five rebounds and six assists for the Gauchos, who won their fifth straight despite going without a basket over the final four minutes of the game.

The Spartans (6-19) outscored Santa Barbara, 17-6, over the final five minutes to erase a 15-point deficit but couldn’t complete the comeback.

UC Irvine 70, Drake 67 -- Aaron Fitzgerald made four free throws in the final 18.4 seconds to give the host Anteaters (15-11) the victory.

The Bulldogs (12-16) have lost eight of 10, six of the defeats coming by four points or fewer.

Nic Campbell led the Anteaters with 20 points and Ross Schraeder had 18.

Boise State 82, Cal State Northridge 71 -- Eric Lane led six players in double figures with a game-high 21 points and had six assists as the Broncos defeated the Matadors at Boise, Idaho.

Boise State (13-12) went on a 16-4 run in the first seven minutes of the second half to take command, 51-33.

Cal State Northridge (10-13) pulled to within 72-61 with 2:33 left but was unable to get any closer.

UC Riverside 69, Southeast Missouri State 61 -- Rickey Porter made six free throws in the final 35 seconds to lift the Highlanders (4-19) over the visiting Redhawks (6-19).

The Highlanders led by as many as 22 in the second half, but let the Redhawks back into the game with four turnovers in six possessions with just over five minutes to play.

St. Mary’s 89, Cal Poly San Luis Obispo 85 -- The Gaels (13-11) held off the Mustangs (7-16) at Moraga. Trae Clark made a layup with 10.3 seconds to play and Ian O’Leary closed out the scoring with two clinching free throws with 7.8 seconds left.

Northern Iowa 65, No. 24 Bucknell 61 -- The Bison were an inbounds pass away from clinching one of their biggest wins of the season. Somehow, they threw it away at Cedar Falls, Iowa.

Northern Iowa’s Eric Crawford forced a second overtime with a fallaway eight-foot basket with eight-tenths of a second left, and Eric Coleman followed with six of his team-high 15 points in the second overtime to lift the Panthers.

Bucknell, ranked in the Associated Press top 25 for the first time, appeared to have the game won with 2.8 seconds left in the first overtime period. Leading, 56-54, and with possession, Bucknell tried to end the game by throwing an inbounds pass across midcourt.

But Donald Brown’s inbounds pass landed beyond midcourt and bounced out of bounds with no time running off the clock.

Coleman then gave Northern Iowa the lift it needed to pull off the unlikely win.

Ben Jacobson added 14 points for the Panthers (22-6), who won for the seventh straight time at home against a top-25 opponent.

The loss ended a 12-game winning streak for Bucknell (21-4) -- its longest in 85 years.

New Mexico State 79, Pacific 69 -- The Aggies (12-12) scored the final 12 points in overtime at Stockton to end the Tigers’ seven-game winning streak.

Johnny Gray’s 30-foot three-pointer at the regulation buzzer sent the game into an extra period tied at 67, but Pacific (18-7) didn’t score after Mike Webb made the first basket of overtime to give the Tigers their last lead.

George Mason 70, Wichita State 67 -- Tony Skinn made a three-point basket with 10.8 seconds left as the visiting Patriots (21-5) held off a late comeback by the Shockers.

Wichita State (21-7) got to within three points on Karon Bradley’s three-pointer with 2:00 left and tied it at 67-67 when Sean Ogirri made a three-pointer 28.7 seconds left.

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Mid-majors’ day

Highlights of ESPN’s Bracket Buster event featuring pairings of top mid-major Division I teams in 50 nonconference games:

WINNERS

* Northern Iowa -- The winning team in the event’s marquee matchup, which actually lived up to its billing. The Panthers came from behind in regulation and in the first overtime before defeating No. 24 Bucknell, 65-61.

* Alex Loughton -- He may not be the second coming of Andrew Bogut, but Old Dominion’s 6-foot-9 Australian center took advantage of the Monarchs’ nationally televised game against Marist, scoring 27 points and getting 12 rebounds in an 84-71 victory. In winning, Old Dominion helped the Colonial Athletic Assn. to a 6-2 record in the event.

* Long Beach State -- No team had to travel more miles for a non-televised, nonconference game in February, but the 49ers made the most of their cross-country trek to Manhattan, rolling to a 108-94 victory over the Jaspers.

LOSERS

* Mid-American Conference -- For a league that regularly places spoilers in the NCAA field, the MAC failed to impress, losing seven of 12 games. Akron, which shares the league’s best conference record with Kent State, was beaten badly by Nevada, 88-61, on Friday night, and Kent State had to rally to win at home in overtime over Butler, 80-76.

* Pacific -- While the rest of the Big West was posting a credible 5-2 record, the conference-leading Tigers blew a lead at home against New Mexico State and were blown out in overtime on the way to a 79-69 loss.

* Missouri Valley Conference -- Anointed earlier in the week by Sports Illustrated as being on par with the major conferences, the MVC had a 4-5 record heading into Creighton’s late-night event finale against Fresno State, including losses by Southern Illinois, which has now lost two of three at home after having a 33-game home winning streak stopped; and conference-leading Wichita State, which also fell at home, 70-67, to Colonial leader George Mason.

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-- VAN NIGHTINGALE