Stephan Gilling led three Long Beach State players in double figures with 17 points but it wasn’ t enough as The Beach dropped a 64-62 Big West Conference game at UC Santa Barbara on Saturday.

“I thought we played really hard,” LBSU coach Dan Monson said. “It was a championship level game from both ends. I thought they played well and we just didn’t make good decisions against the zone in the second half. We couldn’t get inside as regular as we wanted which means we aren’t going to get the shots from the perimeter like we want.”

The Beach (12-13, 6-6 Big West) made more shots, more 3-pointers and out-rebounded the Gauchos (14-8, 9-3 Big West) 40-28, including 20-8 on the offensive boards, but watched as UCSB paraded to the line shooting 14 more free throws and making 13 more during the game. Long Beach State finished 25-of-62 from the floor, 8-of-21 from three, but just 4-of-10 from the line. The Gauchos answered making 17-of-24 free throws while going 21-of-46 form the floor and 5-of-12 from three.

Gilling got the 49ers going early scoring 11 of his 17 points in the first half, while finishing the game making 5-of-11 threes.

Casper Ware kept the 49ers in the game in the second half scoring 10 of his 12 points after the break. T.J. Robinson added 12 points and 15 rebounds, his 15th double-double of the season and 20th of his career.

Jamie Serna made 8-of-9 shots for UCSB and led the Gauchos with 17 points. Will Brew added 12 points, all in the first half, while Orlando Johnson had 11 points and eight assists. 

Reports From LBSU