Dan Monson’s last game as the Long Beach State men’s basketball coach keeps getting delayed.
The only certainty is that it will now come in the NCAA Tournament.
Lassina Traore and Marcus Tsohonis each had 25 points and fourth-seeded Long Beach rallied past second-seeded UC Davis, 74-70, in the Big West Tournament championship game on Saturday night in Henderson, Nevada. The win extends Monson’s career into next week, when LBSU will make its first NCAA Tournament appearance since 2012.
LBSU will learn its seeding, destination and opponent for its first-round game when the 68-team bracket is revealed on Sunday at 3 p.m. (CBS, Ch. 2).
Long Beach (21-14) entered the conference tournament on a five-game losing streak, then it was announced on Monday that Monson and the school had agreed to part ways at the end of the season. Three wins in three days have delayed the severing of that relationship.
Long Beach defeated fifth-seeded UC Riverside in a quarterfinal on Thursday night and top-seeded UC Irvine in a semifinal on Friday before taking down the Aggies (20-13) in the title game.
AJ George had nine points and seven rebounds on Saturday, while Aboubacar Traore added seven points, 13 rebounds and six assists. Lassina Traore added nine rebounds to his point total.
Ty Johnson had 30 points on 13-for-28 shooting to pace UC Davis, while Elijah Pepper had 21 on 7-for-21 shooting.
UC Davis led 32-27 at halftime, but Long Beach erupted for 47 points in the second half. LBSU repeatedly closed the gap on the Aggies before finally tying the score at 54-all on a Lassina Traore tip-in with 8:08 left. George made a 3-pointer with to give Long Beach a 57-54 lead with 7:27 left and Monson’s team never trailed again.
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UC Davis got within 66-65 on a Johnson jumper with 1:58 left, but Lassina Traore answered with a layup on the ensuing possession. Johnson missed a 3-point attempt with 1:10 left, then Tsohonis made a free throw with 29 seconds left for a 69-65 lead. Pepper missed a 3-point attempt and Aboubacar Traore made a pair of free throws for a six-point lead with 21 seconds left.
Johnson made a 3-pointer with 12 seconds left, but Aboubacar Traore split a pair of free throws to keep it a two-possession game with 11 seconds left. Ade Adebayo made a layup to get within 72-70 with four seconds left, but Tsohonis made a pair of free throws to end the threat.
Both teams shot below 40% from the field, but Long Beach turned it over just four times compared to nine for the Aggies.
Much more to come on this story.