SANTA BARBARA, Calif. (AP) Justin Bibbins scored a career-high 25 points and made all five of his 3-point attempts Wednesday night, and Long Beach State beat UC Santa Barbara 77-67.
A.J. Spencer added 14 points and Nick Faust 11. The 49ers (9-11, 3-2 Big West) pulled away with an 8-0 run to lead 31-16 with 2:32 left in the first half. They led 36-23 at the break and built it back to a 15-point lead six more times in the second half.
Santa Barbara (7-10, 1-3) trailed by at least nine until closing the deficit to 69-61 with just less than five minutes to go.
Michael Bryson got it as close as 71-65 with 3:23 left, but the Gauchos went scoreless for over three minutes and it was too late when John Green scored to make it 75-67 with 16 seconds left.
Bryson had 23 points. Gabe Vincent added 15 and Green scored 12.
