By snoadmin
ANAHEIM – When the final buzzer sounded Saturday night, hundreds of Long Beach State students stampeded onto the floor. Some jumped over tables, some didn’t have shirts on and one even climbed to the top of the basketball hoop.
To explain this madness, one just had to look up to one of the two scoreboards that hung from the ceiling of the Anaheim Convention Center, which read: Long Beach State, 94, Cal Poly, 83.
For the first time since 1995, the 49ers are the Big West Tournament champions and have punched their ticket to the NCAA Tournament.
“It was crazy down there [after the game], but it was great,” said guard Kejuan Johnson. “I had to get out of the crowd – it was so crazy.”
Aaron Nixon, who was named Big West Tournament MVP, scored 29 points and his backcourt partner Johnson added 24. The 49ers racked up 63 second-half points to record the historic victory.
Although the 49ers ended up winning by 11, the game was by no means a blowout.
In the first half, LBSU struggled from the field (shooting 31.6 percent) and Cal Poly used an effective inside-outside game to take a 35-30 lead at the break.
“It is hard to even explain what it was like in the locker room at halftime,” said point guard Kevin Houston, who scored 17 points in the game (15 of which were in the second half). “We knew if we didn’t step it up we were going to go home, but we were still confident and encouraging each other.”
The No. 1-seeded 49ers started the second half on a tear, scoring 19 points in a little less than five minutes to take a 49-47 lead.
The game stayed close for the next five minutes, but with the score tied with 10:48 left, Nixon hit a deep 3-pointer, which started a 13-3 run for the 49ers. Nixon ended up scoring 13 points in the final 11 minutes of the game.
“I voted for [Nixon] as the Player of the Year, and he showed he was the Player of the Year,” said Cal Poly head coach Kevin Bromley. “He went on a stretch there where he made some really tough shots, and we didn’t get a couple offensive rebounds and they took over on that stretch.”
The highlight of the game came with 7:49 left, when a two-on-one Houston threw an alley-oop pass to Mark Dawson, who slammed it down with one hand.
“I know Mark has ridiculous hops, so I just threw it up there and he put it down,” Houston said.
Dawson was the surprise of the tournament for LBSU.
The 6-foot-9 center was a role player during the regular season and has scored more than 10 points only three times all season.
But Dawson was also the emotional leader for LBSU in the Big West Tournament, scoring six points and grabbing four rebounds in just 11 minutes during LBSU’s 77-63 semifinal win over UC Irvine Friday night.
Then in the conference championship, Dawson recorded his first double-double of the season, with 12 points and 10 rebounds. For his performance, Dawson was named to the All-Tournament team.
“[Dawson] was the force we all knew he can be,” Nixon said. “He rebounded, blocked shots and scored.”
The 49ers were able to put the game away shooting free throws, going 17-for-19 from the charity stripe in the final 10 minutes of the game.
“I thought we did a pretty good job in the first half defensively. Their score was about where we wanted it. It was our scoring that wasn’t quite where we wanted it,” said LBSU head coach Larry Reynolds. “I thought we were a little tight and then went out a little too aggressively and we were too anxious. We made a couple of adjustments on a couple of plays that they were running and the guys came out [in the second half] and turned things around.”
The No. 2-seeded Mustangs (19-11) got a season-high 31 points from Chaz Thomas and another 15 points from Dawin Whiten.
But Cal Poly’s leading scorer during the regular season, forward Derek Stockalper, scored just eight points on 2-for-8 shooting. The 49ers also did a good job at defending the long range shot, holding the Mustangs to an 8-for-23 (28.6 percent) showing on 3-pointers.
“We know they like to shoot the three, so we tried to get in their shirts and make them drive,” Nixon said.
After the game, Reynolds made sure to thank the people who brought him to The Beach to begin with.
“I first have to thank former President [Robert] Maxson and former Athletic Director Bill Shumard for giving me the opportunity to coach here at Long Beach State,” Reynolds said. “I also have to thank my staff, that has changed a little bit over the years, and the players, not just this year’s team, but players from previous years, too. A lot of determination went into this climax of getting into the NCAA dance.”
