By ANAHEIM – Cal State Long Beach students Courtney Cobbs and Jasmine Roary were a little beat up after LBSU won the Big West Tournament Saturday night. But they didn’t care.
Cobbs, a sophomore business accounting and business economics major, had a bruised knee. Her friend Roary, a sophomore business manager major, had her flip-flop snapped when hundreds of CSULB students rushed the floor to celebrate the victory.
“Yeah, I kind of got run over,” Cobbs said. “It doesn’t matter, though. We won! I’m so proud of the guys.”
Paolo Fiorentini, a junior psychology major, was also in the middle of the mayhem after the game, an experience he won’t forget.
“At times, I didn’t know where I was,” Fiorentini said. “It was great, though. You see all the big schools do it, so it was cool for our school to do it.”
That seemed to be the attitude of most CSULB students who made the short trek to the Anaheim Convention Center to witness the men’s basketball team’s first conference championship in 12 years.
“I knew we were going to win it,” Maria Rivera, a sophomore kinesiology major, said. “I’m so proud of everyone on the team.”
Most CSULB students were standing throughout the entire game and chanting for LBSU, with the occasional smart remark to Cal Poly players and the referees.
When LBSU was down by five at halftime, some students were getting a little nervous, but the cheering never stopped.
“I was a bit nervous,” Fiorentini said. “I had a feeling we were going to pull it out. When [Dawson] had that alley-oop, that was a momentum-changer and I knew we had it won then.”
Cal State Long Beach President F. King Alexander was appreciative that so many students came out to the game.
“I’m so happy for the students,” said CSULB President F. King Alexander. “They really came out and supported the team. Also, the band was unbelievable. They were at every men’s and women’s game and did a great job. It was the best collegiate band performance I have ever seen.”
There probably won’t be as many, but hopefully students will be making some noise in Columbus, Ohio, this Friday.
