Nixon man of the hour for 49ers

Aaron Nixon’s jump shot with 0.4 of a second left lifted Long Beach State to a 68-67 victory over UC Santa Barbara in a battle for first place in the Big West Conference standings Saturday at Santa Barbara.

Referees called a technical foul on the Long Beach State bench for celebrating on the court after Nixon’s shot went in, but Santa Barbara’s Cecil Brown missed the first of two free throws that would have at least sent the game to overtime.

The Gauchos, who retained possession after Brown made the second free throw, attempted a length-of-court pass, but Sterling Byrd tipped it away, securing the victory.

The 49ers (17-6, 8-2) trailed, 64-54, with seven minutes to play, but held the Gauchos (15-7, 6-3) to only one basket for the remainder of the game. Long Beach holds a half-game lead over Cal State Fullerton entering their meeting Wednesday at Fullerton.

Kejuan Johnson, playing for the first time after a three-game NCAA suspension regarding payment for classes before enrolling at Long Beach State, led the 49ers with 22 points. Byrd added 19 points and had 11 rebounds.

Brown had 18 points to lead Santa Barbara, which is now 1 1/2 games out of first in the conference race after losing twice to Long Beach State.

-- Peter Yoon

Cal State Fullerton 75, Cal State Northridge 73 -- Bobby Brown scored eight of his 22 points in the final two minutes to lift the Titans (18-5, 8-3 Big West) past the Matadors (11-13, 4-7) at Northridge.

Fullerton, which reached 18 wins for just the fifth time in 33 years, had blown a 15-point lead and led, 67-66, before Brown made two free throws.

Three times after that, the Matadors cut the lead to one, only to have Brown answer, first with a layup with 45 seconds to play, then with two free throws with 27.1 seconds left and two more free throws with 10.8 seconds remaining.

Northridge’s Rob Haynes made a three-point shot with 1.1 seconds left that would have tied the score 75-75, but a foul was called before the shot. He went to the free-throw line and made the second of two free throws to complete the scoring.

Cal Poly San Luis Obispo 89, UC Irvine 80 -- Dawin Whiten scored a career-high 31 points and matched a team record with eight three-point baskets to help the Mustangs (12-10, 4-5 Big West) hand the Anteaters (11-15, 5-7) their 11th loss in 13 road games.

Whiten, who sat out Thursday’s loss to Long Beach State because of an ankle injury, equaled the record by Watende Favors on Dec. 6, 1997. In all, the Mustangs made 16 of 32 three-point shots.

Pacific 86, UC Riverside 66 -- Reggie Vezia scored 15 points and had a career-high nine rebounds to lead the Tigers (9-14, 5-5 Big West) at Stockton.

The Tigers pulled away with a 19-3 run early in the second half. Freshman Henrik Thomsen scored a game-high 28 points to lead the Highlanders (5-19, 1-9).

Loyola Marymount 71, San Diego 66 -- The Lions (12-14, 4-6 West Coast Conference) got a big play from Marko Deric with 1:08 left at San Diego when he scored off a loose ball under the basket after a missed shot for a 69-66 lead.

After a turnover by the Toreros (14-11, 4-6), Loyola worked the clock down to 11.8 seconds before John Montgomery was fouled on a drive to the basket. He made both free throws.

The Lions played most of the game without leading scorer Matthew Knight, who suffered a concussion when he hit the back of his head on the court after a collision with San Diego’s Ray Murdoch less than four minutes into the game.

San Francisco 82, Pepperdine 70 -- Antonio Kellogg scored 16 of his 23 points in the second half and had eight assists to lead the Dons (10-15, 6-4 WCC) over the Waves (6-20, 2-8) at San Francisco.

Pepperdine, 7-20 a year ago under Paul Westphal before hiring Vance Walberg last April, has lost 20 games in consecutive seasons for the first time in team history.