Gauchos Hold Off Long Beach State In Final Minutes In Santa Barbara

Thursday, February 23

Santa Barbara, CA

7 p.m.

Long Beach State University

15-14,9-8Big West

UC Santa Barbara

21-7,12-5Big West

Long Beach St.

UC Santa Barbara

Photo by: John Fajardo

Gauchos Hold Off Long Beach State In Final Minutes In Santa Barbara

2/23/2023 9:36:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score Box Score - UC Santa Barbara

Both Traores finished with double-doubles, but 28 points from Ajay Mitchell led the way for UCSB in the win.

By: Roger Kirk, Associate Athletics Director, Communications & Broadcast

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. – Long Beach State shot 56.1 percent from the field and both Traores finished with a double-double, but strong outside shooting along with a free throw shooting edge helped UC Santa Barbara hold off LBSU in the Thunderdome 78-73.

                Aboubacar Traore nearly had a triple-double, with 12 points, 10 rebounds and a career-high seven assists, while Lassina Traore led Long Beach State (15-14, 9-8 Big West) in scoring and rebounding with 17 points and 11 rebounds as the Beach out-rebounded UC Santa Barbara (21-7, 12-5 Big West) 36 to 29 and finished with 46 points in the paint in a dominant night inside.

                UC Santa Barbara finished with 10 3-pointers on 40 percent shooting from behind the arc, and ultimately got the home court advantage with 21 free throws to Long Beach State's seven despite a nearly 20-point edge in points in the paint for the Beach.

                Neither team led by double-figures in a tight contest that featured 20 lead changes throughout the night. Tied at 16-16, Long Beach State went on an 8-0 run to establish an early lead, and back-to-back 3-pointers from Tobias Rotegaard gave Long Beach State a nine-point cushion at 30-21. The Gauchos answered with a 10-0 run, and the teams were within striking distance of each other the rest of the way.

                With UC Santa Barbara leading by three at 72-69 with 3:18 remaining, Long Beach State went inside to AJ George for back-to-back paint touches for baskets to take a 73-72 lead with just over two minutes to play. UCSB turned to their star, Ajay Mitchell, who picked up the next two baskets before making a pair of late free throws to seal the win.

                Mitchell finished with 28 points, leading all scorers while LBSU had four in double-figures as Marcus Tsohonis scored 16 points to join the Troares and George in double digit scoring for the Beach.

                Long Beach State will return home to the Walter Pyramid for their final two home games of the season. The Beach hosts CSUN at 4 p.m. on Saturday, before welcoming CSU Bakersfield to Long Beach for Senior Night on Thursday, March 2 where the Beach will recognize their lone senior, Joel Murray.