By snoadmin
ANAHEIM – Backup guard Artis Gant only played two minutes for Long Beach State in its Big West semifinal game Friday night at the Anaheim Convention Center. But he might have hit the most important shot.
In the final seconds of the first half, Gant banked home a 3-pointer to give LBSU the lead going into halftime, and the 49ers outran UC Irvine in the second half en route to a 77-63 win.
LBSU (23-7) will play in the Big West championship game Saturday at 8 p.m., with a berth to the NCAA Tournament on the line. The game will be broadcast on ESPN2.
“It was a momentum changer,” LBSU head coach Larry Reynolds said after the game about Gant’s only shot of the game. “[Irvine] had came back to tie the score, and then Artis banked one in to send us into half on a high note.”
The 49ers came out in the second half going on 12-2 run. The Anteaters would get no closer than eight points for the rest of the game. The win advanced LBSU to its second Big West championship game in a row, a feat that has not been accomplished since the 1977-78 seasons.
Sterling Byrd led the 49ers in points with 20, and Aaron Nixon, who was plagued by foul trouble and eventually fouled out, scored 16 points. Dominique Ricks and Kevin Houston added 11 points in the win. As a team, the 49ers shot 53.2 percent from the field.
“We thought we could use our fresh legs against them in the second half,” Reynolds said. “I’m pleased with our second-half performance. I thought our guys came out with some pizzazz and fight and posted a good shooting percentage.”
For UC Irvine, it was the second consecutive year the Anteaters lost in the semifinals to LBSU. Unlike LBSU, which had a bye into the semifinals, the Anteaters had to beat CS Northridge Wendesday and UC Santa Barbara Thursday just to advance to the semifinals.
“We were more emotionally run down,” UC Irvine head coach Pat Douglass said. “We needed to play with more energy to make up for our lack of experience.” Last year in the conference final, LBSU lost to Pacific 78-70, something Byrd still thinks about to this day. “After we lost last year, I told [Reynolds] we were going to win it next year,” Byrd said. “Hopefully we can back up those words.”
