Long Beach State reaches NCAA Tournament after firing coach

Lassina Traore had a career-high 25 points to help No. 4 seed Long Beach State beat second-seeded UC Davis 74-70 on Saturday night in the championship game of the Big West Conference men’s basketball tournament at Dollar Loan Center.

It was an improbable run for the Beach after the school announced Monday that it would part ways with coach Dan Monson at the end of his 17th season.

Marcus Tsohonis hit two clutch free throws with 3.6 seconds remaining and finished with 25 points for Long Beach State (21-14).

Traore sank 12 of 17 shots and his only free throw for the Beach, who entered the tournament on a five-game losing streak before beating No. 5 seed UC Riverside and top-seeded UC Irvine to reach the final. He added nine rebounds, five of them at the offensive end.

Aboubacar Traore finished with seven points, 13 rebounds and six assists for the Beach. AJ George added nine points and seven rebounds off the bench.

Ty Johnson paced the Aggies (20-13) with 30 points, six rebounds and four assists. Elijah Pepper hit four 3-pointers and scored 21, adding nine rebounds and three assists.

Johnson had 11 points and Pepper scored 10 to guide UC Davis to a 32-27 advantage at halftime. Tsohonis had 15 points at the break to keep Long Beach State close.

Lussina Traore scored 19 in the second half. His rebound basket pulled Long Beach State even at 54-all, and George followed with a 3-pointer to give the Beach a 57-54 lead with 7:29 remaining. It was their first lead since 15-12.

UC Davis closed to within a point twice and trailed 72-70 on an Ade Adebayo layup with four seconds to go, but Tsohonis was clutch at the line to wrap up the win.

Monson, who started Gonzaga’s unprecedented run of success when he led the Bulldogs to the Elite Eight in 1999 before leaving to take over an embattled Minnesota program and turning Gonzaga’s reins over to Mark Few, has the Beach in the Big Dance for the first time since he took them 2012 when the program was known as the 49ers.

Monson is the school’s winningest coach with a record of 275-272.

Other tournament finals Saturday in the Las Vegas area:

WAC men

— Grand Canyon 89, Texas-Arlington 74: Tyon Grant-Foster scored 22 points, Ray Harrison added 15 of his 19 in the second half, and the top-seeded Lopes beat the Mavericks in the Western Athletic Conference tournament final.

Grand Canyon (29-4) earned its second consecutive tournament title and clinched a berth in the NCAA Tournament for the third time in the past four seasons. Lok Wur scored 16 points and Jovan Blacksher Jr. added 14.

Phillip Russell led Texas-Arlington (20-14) with 22 points, including four 3-pointers. Shemar Wilson added 13 points and Akili Vining 10.

Grand Canyon went 37-for-50 at the free-throw line and scored 32 points off 26 Mavericks turnovers.

WAC women

— California Baptist 75, Stephen F. Austin 74: At Orleans Arena, Chloe Webb scored 24 points and grabbed 15 rebounds to lead the top-seeded Lancers past the Ladyjacks in the title game.

Cal Baptist (28-3) advances to the NCAA Tournament for the first time. It won the WAC tournament in 2021 but was ineligible for the NCAA Tournament as it transitioned to Division I.

Cal Baptist trailed 66-59 with just under five minutes but took control with a late 12-0 run. Nae Nae Calhoun’s 3-pointer tied the score at 66, and Nhug Bosch Duran hit a baseline 3 out of transition for the Lancers’ first lead with 2:01 left.

The Ladyjacks (22-12) cut the deficit to two in the final 30 seconds, but a pair of free throws by Webb with 6.2 seconds left helped seal the win. Avery VanSickle hit a deep 3 with 2.5 seconds remaining before Cal Baptist was able to inbound the ball and run out the clock.

Webb, the tournament’s most outstanding player, was just 6-of-20 shooting but 12 of 14 from the line for the Lancers. Anaiyah Tu’ua added 22 points on 6-of-12 shooting for Cal Baptist, and Kinsley Barrington had 10 points.

Kurstyn Harden scored 26 points on 10-of-17 shooting and had 12 rebounds to lead the third-seeded Ladyjacks. VanSickle had four 3-pointers and finished with 16 points.

Stephen F. Austin led by as many as 11 points in the second quarter and closed the third on a 7-0 burst to take a 53-48 lead into the final period.

Big West women

— UC Irvine 53, UC Davis 39: At Dollar Loan Center, Deja Lee had 21 points and six rebounds to lift the No. 2-seeded Anteaters past the Aggies in the championship game.

UC Irvine (23-8) advanced to its first NCAA Tournament since 1995.

Lee, the tournament’s most valuable player, shot 8-for-12 from the field and also had two steals. Moulayna Johnson Sidi Baba finished with 13 points and nine rebounds for UC Irvine.

The Anteaters outscored fifth-seeded UC Davis 23-4 in the third quarter to take control after holding a two-point halftime lead.

Evanne Turner led the Aggies (20-14) with 18 points and seven rebounds.