March 2, 2000
Santa Barbara, Calif. - UC Santa Barbara stepped onto the floor Thursday night in front of a crowd of 3,112 hoping to make a statement against Long Beach State. Unfortunately, though, those plans were ruined as the 49ers caught the Gauchos in the final minutes to pull out 72-69 win.
UCSB falls to 13-13 overall and 9-6 in the Big West. Long Beach St. improves their record to 22-4 overall and 14-1 in the Big West to remain in first place in the Big West Conference.
UCSB started out hot as they jumped out to a 15-4 lead in the first seven minutes
of play. Tight defense and key baskets kept them ahead throughout the first
half as the Gauchos shot a blistering .571 from the field and held Long Beach
to .323 shooting. UCSB enjoyed a 43-31 lead at the intermission.
UCSB was led at the half by freshman Mark Hull with 13 points and junior Brandon
Payton who had 11 points. Senior guard Larry Bell led the Gauchos in rebounding
at the half with 7.
In the second half the Gauchos set the pace early as they maintained their lead with
a clutch three-pointer by junior forward Juliano Jordani with 13:25 left and a
layup drive by Mark Hull with 10:29 left. UCSB led 59-48 at this point.
Then the pressure mounted as Long Beach St. came out in a full-court
press. With a little over a minute to go Long Beach guard Ramel Lloyd scored
a layup followed by a D'Cean Bryant three-pointer that put the 49ers ahead
70-69. Mark Hull missed the potential tying three-pointer with 15 seconds left.
The leading scorers for the Gauchos were Mark Hull with 17 points and Brandon
Payton with 13 points. UCSB shot .459 from the field for the game, but just
.364 in the second half. Long Beach St. was led by Ramel Lloyd with 19 points
and D'Cean Bryant with 13. The 49ers shot .406 for the game, but .485 in the
second half.
Up next for the UCSB are the Tigers of Pacific on senior night and also the last regular season before the Big West Tournament.