Wilson hits for 30 as shorthanded Aggies take critical win at Long Beach State
76-70 overtime victory keeps UCD in the running for a first-round bye in conference tournament
LONG BEACH - With three UC Davis starters out with injuries, Marcus Wilson put the Aggies on his shoulders to produce a dramatic 76-70 overtime win over Long Beach State in a Big West men’s basketball battle Thursday night before a noisy crowd of 1,419 at the LBS Financial Credit Union Pyramid.
The win propelled the Aggies from seventh place into a four-way tie for fourth at 11-8, with the final regular season game looming at league-leading UC Irvine Saturday at 5 p.m. on ESPNU. The game will also be broadcast live on Sactown Radio, 1140 AM, with Scott Marsh on the call.
With Nils Cooper, Jalen Stokes and Connor Sevilla watching from the bench, Wilson had a career night with 30 points, 25 of which came in the second half and overtime.
“We just had a next man mentality and my teammates kept getting me the ball,” explained Wilson afterward.
“We have to take care of business on Saturday and then keep it going in the tournament.”
The Big West tournament runs next Wednesday through Saturday (March 11-14) in Henderson, Nevada, with the winner moving on to the NCAA’s Big Dance.
Irvine brings a 14-5 mark into the game and has already sewed up a double bye in the conference tournament.
The Aggies still have a chance to land in third or fourth place to earn a single bye if they can get past Irvine and several other teams lose on Saturday to break the deadlock in fourth place.
“What a gutty win,” said Aggie head coach Jim Les.
“We were undermanned and some guys played a lot of minutes, but we fought through some adversity and found a way to win. Everybody needed to step up, and they did. We just kept working and grinding. We’re looking forward to playing Irvine and we’ll be ready.”
The Aggies defeated the Anteaters, 75-72, on Jan. 17 in Davis.
UCD had only nine available players and quickly fell behind in the first half, trailing 30-21 before rallying briefly to cut the deficit to 34-31 at half.
With Wilson taking control, UCD stormed back to take a 62-57 lead with 3:24 remaining, but went scoreless during the rest of regulation as Long Beach came back to force overtime.
Long Beach scored the first basket of overtime, but the Aggies went on an 8-0 run to quiet the crowd, with two free throws by Wilson and two more by Brayden Fagbemi sealing the deal down the stretch.
Niko Rocak had 13 rebounds and four crucial blocks for the Aggies, while Fagbemi and Omer Suljanovic added 11 points apiece.
In other Big West action, Irvine crushed Cal Poly, 107-85, Cal State Northridge edged Cal State Bakersfield, 86-84, and Cal State Fullerton defeated UC San Diego, 75-71.
Reach Bob Dunning at bobdunning@thewaryone.com