Pacific Edges Long Beach

What could Long Beach State possibly do for an encore after Friday’s thrilling last-second victory over UC Irvine?

Play the same kind of leave-it-all-on-the-court game against Pacific, the top-seeded team in the Big West Conference men’s tournament.

This time, however, the third-seeded 49ers didn’t have enough. Pacific (24-7) turned away Long Beach, 78-70, to claim its second title in three years, and an automatic NCAA tournament bid. It was also the seventh straight win for Pacific over Long Beach.

Christian Maraker had 23 points and 11 rebounds for Pacific. Johnny Gray, the tournament’s most valuable player, had 21.

Shawn Hawkins had a game-high 27 points for Long Beach (18-12).

It was clear to Pacific Coach Bob Thomason what the Tigers had to do to win.

“We’ve played them twice, and I don’t think there are a lot of secrets,” Thomason said. “The key is how we do on the defensive boards and how we get to loose balls. If we can do well in those two areas, we’ll have some open-court opportunities. If they come up with those, then it’s a tough situation for us.”

Long Beach was playing its third game in three days. But the 49ers had plenty of spring in their legs in the early going, and it showed by the shot selection -- five of their first six baskets were three-pointers.

But Pacific used an 18-4 burst midway through the first half for a 30-20 lead. The advantage grew to 42-28 before Long Beach ran off eight straight points to close the half.

Still the 49ers were in trouble. Maraker (14 points) was on his game, and he was forcing Long Beach to defend him inside and outside. Plus, Pacific was shooting three-pointers as well as Long Beach was; each team made seven three-pointers in the first half.

It remained to be seen if Hawkins (13 points) could keep up with Maraker on the scoreboard and keep Long Beach afloat.

Hawkins did come out firing, scoring Long Beach’s first eight points of the second half to close the gap to 44-42. That inspired the 49ers to erase the Tigers’ lead and take their own, 52-50 on a three-pointer by Jibril Hodges.

The game was tied one last time, 57-57, with 10:51 left, but Pacific outscored Long Beach, 13-5, to go up 70-62.

The 49ers never got closer than five points after that.