Long Beach State snap six-game win streak in loss to UC Santa Barbara.
LONG BEACH — Long Beach State's six-game winning streak came to an end on Thursday, falling to UC Santa Barbara 75–72 in a down to the wire battle.
In a game that had 16 ties and 11 lead changes, Long Beach State and UC Santa Barbara battled all the way to the final seconds. After a costly turnover, Beach State saw themselves trailing by one (73–72) with under 30 seconds left and needing a stop. After a clutch stop, Beach State immediately went off to the fastbreak to get a quick bucket, with sophomore guard Tone Hunter finding Jadon Jones for the open three but hitting the back iron to fall short.
"I'll take Jadon (Jones) with that shot any day of the week,” said head coach Dan Monson.
Beach State was able to get the ball back down three (75–73) with 3.1 seconds remaining, with junior Marcus Tsohonis taking it the length of the floor, shooting a contested three, and just missing, giving Long Beach their first loss since January 14th.
“I’m always preaching to them, 'next game, next play,'” Monson added on Thursday’s loss. “We got to move on from it. We don’t have time.”
Beach State’s top scorer, Marcus Tsohonis, struggled to stay consistent from the field, shooting just 1-for-13 (7%) from the floor on just 2 points scored.
After Thursday's loss, Long Beach State sits 5th in the Big West at 14–11, while UC Santa Barbara remains in 1st with a 19–4 record.
Long Beach State’s next game comes on Saturday, February 11th, against CSU Bakersfield at 7 p.m. on ESPN+.
