After a tumultuous season the 49ers earned the #3 seed in the Big West Tournament and they will take on Cal Poly in their first game after the Mustangs took out UC Irvine yesterday, 73-69.

Long Beach struggled in the middle of January at home, falling 90-79 to Cal Poly SLO in one of the worst losses of the year.  Almost a month later, the 49ers took the most important road trip of the year up the 101 Freeway, and came through with a 78-72 victory that put them permanently in the conference top four.

Last night at the ACC, Senior guard Lorenzo Keeler scored a game-best 27 points and matched a 30-year-old Big West Conference Tournament records for both attempted (18) and converted (16) free throws as the #6 seed Mustangs won their first tournament game in nearly three years and advanced to play the 49ers.

Sophomore forward David Hanson added 15 points and nine rebounds for Cal Poly (12-18), which led UC Irvine (14-18), 71-69, with 22 seconds remaining. After grabbing a missed Hanson free throw, however, Anteaters forward Eric Wise was whistled for an offensive charge at the other end of the court and Keeler knocked down a pair of free throws to preserve Cal Poly’s first tournament victory since the Mustangs reached the 2007 championship game.