Nixon, 49ers top ‘Eaters

LONG BEACH — With 92 seconds left in the game and his Long Beach State men’s basketball team up, 78-71, 49ers senior guard Aaron Nixon followed his errant pass out of bounds by bouncing up and down. Pulling his knees toward his chest and jerking his arms up and down, he clinched his fists and scowled, like a child who’d just been denied what was rightfully his.

Against UC Irvine, after all, Nixon is used to things going his way. The likely Big West Conference Player of the Year made sure Thursday’s UC Irvine regular-season finale at the Walter Pyramid was yet another one of those times. The 6-foot-2 dynamo scored 20 of his team-high 22 points after halftime, allowing the hosts to overcome a 10-point deficit with 10:39 remaining, to forge an 85-80 triumph to close out their home season with a 12-1 mark.

Nixon made six of nine field-goal attempts, including three of five from three-point range, to help the 49ers win for the eighth time in their last nine games, since absorbing an 88-84 loss at UCI on Jan. 25.

After UCI’s Aaron Templeton made a layup with 10:39 to go, Nixon scored 12 straight Long Beach State points in a span of 3 minutes, 29 seconds, to pull the hosts within 65-64 with 6:50 remaining.

After the two teams exchanged a pair of free throws, Kejuan Johnson, another of the 49ers’ nine seniors, sank a three-pointer to put Long Beach up, 69-67, with 5:56 left.

Two free throws by Mark Kelley, a UCI senior center who scored a career-high 24 points, tied the score at 69-69.

But Nixon, Johnson and yet another senior guard, Kevin Houston, made sure the 49ers would regain and hold the lead the rest of the way.

“[Nixon] went inside, and he went outside and just took the game over,” said UCI Coach Pat Douglass, who remains haunted by the image of Nixon drilling a three-pointer from the corner to beat the buzzer and the Anteaters in the semifinals of the Big West Conference Tournament at the Anaheim Convention Center. It’s an image now replayed regularly during telecasts of Big West games as part of the conference’s attempt to promote this year’s tournament, which begins Wednesday. Douglass said he is tired of seeing “that [darn] replay.”

“He’s done that a lot of times,” Douglass said of Nixon. “He just takes games over. A lot of times, he makes shots in the last five minutes. But it didn’t seem like he missed too many shots in the second half [tonight]. He’s probably the league MVP and he took over the game.”

Nixon’s heroics, as well as 20 points by Houston and double-figure scoring outputs by three other 49ers, all seniors, helped Long Beach improve to 21-7, 11-2 in conference.

Though the Anteaters are the conference squad that has given the 49ers the most trouble this year, Douglass said there was no solace in moral victories.

The loss dropped the Anteaters to 13-17, 6-8. They are finished, but can do no worse than the No. 5 tournament seed, even if Cal State Northridge (at UC Santa Barbara) and Pacific (at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo) win Saturday to pull even in the standings.

UCI holds tiebreaker advantages over both Northridge and Pacific, meaning it will open the tournament against No. 8-seeded UC Riverside, Wednesday at 6 p.m. at the Anaheim Convention Center.

UCI will need at least two wins to reach the tournament semifinals, an eventuality Douglass said he would take. Douglass said he would also take a rematch with the 49ers, who won their first conference regular-season title since 1996.

Douglass said he was proud of the way his players battled, but their lack of experience in the backcourt, as well as Long Beach’s dogged determination, proved too much to overcome.

Douglass said Kelley’s play was inspired. The 6-9 senior finished nine of 10 from the field and six of six from the foul line. He also had a team-high nine rebounds and had his team’s only blocked shot.

Senior Nic Campbell, who was three of three from three-point range, had 15 points, while freshman Michael Hunter added 13 points and four assists and junior guard Chuma Awaji added 10 points.

UCI made eight of 15 three-point tries (53.3%), but Long Beach canned nine of 21 and finished 30 of 56 from the field (53.6%).

UCI was 17 of 38 inside the arc and finished 47.2% from the field.

UCI outrebounded the hosts, 32-26, but lost the turnover battle, 16-11.

Big West ConferenceUC Irvine -- Kelley 24, Campbell 15, Hunter 13, Awaji 10, Sanders 6, Templeton 5, Fells 4, DeCasas 3.

Long Beach State 85,

UC Irvine 80

3-pt. goals -- Campbell 3, Hunter 3, DeCasas 1, Templeton 1.

Fouled out -- None.

Technicals -- None.

Long Beach State -- Nixon 22, Houston 20, Byrd 12, Johnson 12, Darby 10, Dawson 5, Ricks 4.

3-pt. goals -- Nixon 3, Houston 3, Johnson 2, Darby 1.

Halftime -- 35-31, LB.