The Long Beach St. 49ers visited the UC Santa Barbara Gauchos on Saturday night in a potential preview of the Big West tournament final. The 49ers were attempting to stay undefeated in the Big West by knocking off the second-place Gauchos, who have defeated Long Beach in the conference tournament final in each of the past two years.
The 49ers fell behind early in front of the Gauchos home crowd and it appeared as though the Gauchos might just be Long Beach's own Kryptonite. But in short order, the Niners roared back in a big way, grabbing a 13-point lead and entering halftime up by a score of 36-23. In the second half it was more of the same, as Long Beach ended up coasting to the 71-48 win.
With the win, Long Beach improves to 7-0 in the Big West, while the Gauchos fall to 4-2 in the conference.
The 49ers will play their next game on Thursday, January 26 as they visit the UC Riverside Highlanders.