Darden,
49ers finish off Gauchos at the line
By Benedict Dimapindan
On-line Forty-Niner
49ers
guard Tony Darden walked up to the free
throw line with two seconds left and was
afforded a rare chance for redemption.
 Down
67-66, fate gave Darden and The Beach one
last chance to win a game characterized
by second chances.
Darden, an 84.5 percent free throw shooter,
misfired on two free throws 14 seconds earlier.
However, LBSU Coach Larry Reynolds wasn’t
too concerned - he had an unshakeable trust
in his 6-foot-4 senior.
“I
have tremendous confidence in Tony’s shot,”
Reynolds said. “He’s [the fourth best] free
throw shooter in the conference.”
Reynolds was right not to lose faith in
the 49ers sharpshooter.
Darden sank both free throws and the crowd
of 2,248 erupted at The Pyramid, as The
Beach (3-15, 2-7) upset the Gauchos (9-10,
6-3), 68-67.
But the game wasn’t supposed to play out
this way.
The Gauchos were tied for first in the Big
West standings heading into Saturday night’s
contest, while The Beach was in sole possession
of last place.
In addition, UCSB was second in the conference
in field goal percentage and first in field
goal percentage defense; the 49ers, conversely,
were second from the bottom and dead last,
respectively, in those statistical categories.
However, the Gauchos’ tight man-to-man defense
and full-court press, which forced 17 turnovers,
could only pin LBSU down for so long. The
Beach found its rhythm in the second half
behind solid ball movement and a balanced
inside-outside attack that frustrated UCSB
down the stretch.
“They [the 49ers] battled throughout the
game and stuck with the game plan,” Reynolds
said. “We wanted to control the pace of
the game, so we moved the ball around and
spread [the Gauchos] out a bit.”
The Beach opened strong as freshman point
guard Jibril Hodges dribbled around a screen
and drained a three-pointer at the top of
the key to give the 49ers an early lead.
As each team stuck with a man-to-man defense,
LBSU was able to surge ahead and hold on
to a six-point lead for nearly 15 minutes,
thanks to Kevin Roberts, who scored 11 of
his 15 points in the first half. The 6-foot-7
junior forward dissected the UCSB defense
with penetration and baseline moves that
led to one-handed bank shots.
But late in the first half, the combination
of foul trouble and poor decision-making
against the press cost the 49ers the lead.
The Gauchos capitalized on 10 made free
throws and easy transition lay-ups off six
steals to claim a 37-34 advantage at halftime.
In the second half, the 49ers roared out
of the locker room with an intensity that
lasted the remainder of the game.
The Beach outscored UCSB, 11-5, in the first
four minutes of the half as senior center
Vance Lawhorn, who finished the game with
13 points, muscled his way in the paint
for three close-range baskets.
Also, Hodges, who had a breakout performance
with 19 points, shook off any shyness around
the perimeter and turned on the green light.
Hodges registered 10 second-half points,
highlighted by a three-pointer from the
wing after eluding his defender to give
the 49ers a 59-55 lead with four minutes
remaining.
Down the stretch, it seemed that LBSU had
the game locked up, shooting free throw
after free throw, while the Gauchos incessantly
fouled in desperation.
But a pair of steals in the final 20 seconds
by UCSB’s B.J. Ward and Nick Jones, who
scored 16, led to quick points, and a runner
off the glass by Branduinn Fullove, who
scored a game-high 20, with six seconds
left shifted the lead back to the Gauchos,
67-66.
Then, Darden, who finished with nine points,
hit the game-winning free throws for The
Beach.
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