| No. 4 seed Long Beach State 83, No. 1 seed UC Irvine 79 |
Box score |
LBSU presser |
UCI presser
Gallery: (3-15-2024) 2024 MBB Semifinals: LBSU vs UCI
HENDERSON, Nev. – In a thrilling upset in the 2024 Hercules Tires Big West Men's Basketball Championship, No. 4 seed Long Beach State thwarted the regular-season champion and No. 1 seed UC Irvine, securing an 83-79 victory in a nail-biting finish.
With the win, LBSU improves to 20-14 and advances to face the winner of the matchup between No. 2 UC Davis and No. 3 Hawai’i in the nightcap from The Dollar Loan Center. Meanwhile, UC Irvine moves to 24-9 and awaits their postseason fate with an eye to a potential place in the National Invitation Tournament bracket.
The game was tightly contested from the opening tip-off, with both teams trading baskets and momentum swings throughout. Long Beach State jumped out to their largest lead of the game after Amari Stroud’s block of Bent Leuchten led to a jumper the Beach’s largest lead of the game at 26-16 with 9:02 to play in the first half.
UCI chipped away and got the advantage down to two after a bucket from Pierre Cockrell II set the score at 35-33. However, LBSU scored the last seven of the period capped by a defensive rebound and outlet pass from Jadon Jones leading to an emphatic dunk for Stroud that beat the buzzer to head to halftime with the 47-38 lead.
UCI battled back in the second, knotting the contest at 55-all after Justin Hohn found Andre Henry for the triple, and taking a one-point lead with 10:22 to go after Derin Seran’s layup made it 62-61 in favor of the Anteaters. Back and forth play continued for much of the remainder of the game but LBSU was calm and collected from the free throw line to ice the Black-Blue Rivalry matchup and come away with the 83-79 victory.
LBSU led by a balanced scoring effort, with five players reaching double figure scoring totals. Traore’s 20 was the game high, Jones and Marcus Tsohonis each added 15, and AJ George and Stroud both contributed 11-point performances.
Despite the loss, UC Irvine put up a valiant effort with Justin Hohn’s 19 points and 18 points for Pierre Crockrell II leading the Anteaters.
This marks Long Beach State’s 14th trip to the Championship final, with its most recent appearance resulting in a runner-up finish in 2022. The Beach have claimed five Big West titles (1977, ‘93, ‘95, ‘07, ‘12).
| No. 2 seed UC Davis 68, No. 3 seed Hawai'i 65 |
Box score | UCD presser | UH presser
Gallery: (3-15-2024) 2024 WBB Semifinals: UCD vs UH
HENDERSON, Nev. – Despite the wire-to-wire win, last-minute dramatics closed out the 68-65 victory for No. 2 seed UC Davis over third-seeded Hawai’i in the semifinals of the 2024 Hercules Tires Big West Men’s Basketball Championship from The Dollar Loan Center.
With the victorious effort, the Aggies move to 20-12 on the year while Hawai’i caps the season at 20-14. UCD advances to their second ever Big West Championship game, reaching the pinnacle and hoisting the trophy in 2017.
The Aggies were paced by a 25-point outing for Big West Player of the Year Elijah Pepper with Kane Milling and Ty Johnson also topping double figure scoring.
UCD opened the game on a tear, racing to a 22-6 lead with 11:39 on the first-half clock. The Rainbow Warriors were able to claw back in the period, rattling off a 23-4 run of their own capped by a Juan Munoz triple with 1:49 to go. Bernardo Da Silva’s dunk before the buzzer saw UCD up by a slim two-point margin at halftime, 31-29.
The Aggies were again able to extend their lead in the opening minutes of the second half, growing the advantage to 48-31 after Johnson’s steal and pass to Pepper set up an alleyoop on the fast break for Pablo Tamba.
The UCD advantage remained at double figures through much of the second, but with under three-minutes to on the clock, Hawai’i surged to put fans on the edge of their seats for the final moments. First Noel Coleman sunk a pair of free throws to cut the UCD lead to eight. With 1:26 remaining, Jovan McClanahan was true from the line to get within two possessions. Nine second later, Justin McKoy enjoyed a successful trip to the line to make the score 66-62 in favor of the Aggies. After McClanahan was fouled on a successful drive to the basket, UH pulled within one with just 27 ticks to play.
A UCD turnover followed, but McLanahan’s jumper in the closing seconds was off the mark, leading to the three-point win for the Aggies.
Hawai’i was paced by a trio of double figure performances, with Da Sliva elading the way with 14 on 5-of-6 shooting from the floor and a 4-of-6 outing from the charity stripe. Overall, the ‘Bows shot 91.3 percent from the line (21-of-23) to hang in the contest to the end.
UC Davis now takes on No. 4 seed Long Beach State in the championship round. The two split the regular season series, with the wins coming on their opponents’ court. In the final regular-season game of the year, the Aggies nabbed the 76-74 victory over the Beach on March 9.