Long Beach Wins Hard-Fought Contest

The last thing Long Beach State’s Aaron Nixon wanted was to play into overtime against Cal State Fullerton on Thursday night in the second round of Big West Conference tournament.

So Nixon took it upon himself to end the Titans’ season by scoring five of his game-high 31 points over the final 28 seconds to give Long Beach State a 94-91 victory at the Anaheim Convention Center.

Nixon, who also grabbed 10 rebounds, converted a three-point play and made two clutch free throws to move the third-seeded 49ers (17-11) into tonight’s semifinal against second-seeded UC Irvine.

“We wanted to keep it close all the way to the end and then snatch [victory] from them,” Nixon said about Long Beach’s third victory over Fullerton this season.

The Titans’ missed a chance to tie the score in the final seconds of regulation when Jermaine Harper’s three-point attempt bounced off the rim.

“They’ve played us tough every time we’ve played them this season,” Long Beach Coach Larry Reynolds said. “We’re fortunate to come out with a victory.”

Fullerton (16-13), seeded sixth, had opportunities to win or at least send the game into an extra period, but the Titans hurt themselves by missing nine of their final 12 free throws in the second half.

Senior Jamaal Brown, who had 30 points and nine rebounds, had the two biggest misses when he came up short twice from the line with Long Beach ahead, 92-91, with 13 seconds left.

“The ironic thing is that Jamal has won some games for us from the line this season and there’s nobody that I would rather have there than him,” Fullerton Coach Bob Burton said. “But for some reason, we just didn’t shoot that well from the line tonight.”

In winning their sixth consecutive game, Long Beach’s depth wore down the Titans. Although Kejuan Johnson (16 points), Shawn Hawkins (12) and Nixon were the only 49ers to score in double figures, they had nine players play at least nine minutes and their bench outscored Fullerton’s, 26-5.

“That’s our style, we play a lot of guys,” Reynolds said. “We have depth and [tournament play] is what this team is built for.”

Fullerton received strong games from sophomore forward Frank Robinson, who had a career-best 26 points and 12 rebounds before fouling out with four minutes remaining, and junior guard Bobby Brown, who finished with 19 points.

But down the stretch, the Titans turned into a one-player team with Jamaal Brown, who had to step up once Robinson fouled out and Bobby Brown seemed to tire against Long Beach’s pressure defense.

“I felt like I had to take it on my shoulders,” said Jamaal Brown, who made 12 of 21 field-goal attempts but only six of 12 from the free-throw line. “We played hard but in the end, one team had to lose.”

For Long Beach, which is 15-5 over its last 20 games, Thursday’s victory sets up a rematch against the Anteaters.

Although the teams have split their two games this season, last week the 49ers won at UC Irvine, 93-73, after trailing by 21 points in the first half.

Cal Poly San Luis Obispo 57, UC Santa Barbara 50 -- In the late game, Dawin Whiten and Titus Shelton each scored 12 points as the fourth-seeded Mustangs (11-18), who were 7-7 in conference play during the regular season, defeated the fifth-seeded Gauchos (15-15).