49ers No Match for Santa Barbara : CS Long Beach: 22% shooting from the field in the first half leads to sixth consecutive loss to the Gauchos. - Los Angeles Times
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49ers No Match for Santa Barbara : CS Long Beach: 22% shooting from the field in the first half leads to sixth consecutive loss to the Gauchos.

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TIMES STAFF WRITER

Cal State Long Beach Coach Joe Harrington was a picture of frustration.

He screamed at the officials, cursed and stamped his feet throughout the 49ers’ 84-67 loss to UC Santa Barbara in the university gym Thursday night.

He also kept burying his face in his hands, unable to watch another bad pass or errant shot.

“We’re really in disarray,†Harrington said after the 49ers lost for the sixth consecutive time to the Gauchos. “We broke down too many times to beat a good team, and Santa Barbara is a good team.â€

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The Gauchos are 16-5 overall and 9-3 in the Big West Conference.

Long Beach, which has lost five of its last eight games, is 13-7 and 6-6.

The 49ers, who have been plagued by poor shooting most of the season, hit a new low when they made only 22% of their field goal attempts in the first half. They improved to only 30% in the second half.

“We’re taking way too many bad shots,†Harrington said.

In the first half, Lucious Harris was one for eight from the field and Mike Masucci was two of nine.

Santa Barbara shot 49% and got 19 points from reserve Lucius Davis and 18 from Gary Gray.

The Gauchos began pulling away early in the second half when forward Eric McArthur made three consecutive baskets to make the score 48-34. McArthur, the nation’s leading rebounder with almost 14 a game, had 10 rebounds and 12 points. Because of foul trouble, he only played 18 minutes.

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A steal and a layup by Bobby Sears got the 49ers to within 58-52 with nine minutes left. Santa Barbara then missed a shot on its next trip down the court but Masucci, trying to save the ball from going out of bounds, threw it right to Davis, who scored an easy basket.

The Gauchos coasted the rest of the way, upsetting Harrington, who picked up his second technical foul with 4:45 left. It was the second game in a row he has been assessed two technicals.

Harris led the 49ers with 18 points.

A technical foul on Harrington with about 11 minutes left got the Gauchos started on an 8-0 run that gave them a 20-13 lead.

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Long Beach went almost 4 1/2 minutes without scoring. Masucci broke that drought with a three-point shot and reserve guard Darrell Faulkner came in to hit from three-pointer range and then added a jump shot to make it, 24-22.

The 49ers were ahead, 28-26, after a dunk by Rudy Harvey, but that was immediately answered by Davis, who made a three-point basket to start a 10-0 Gaucho run in the last 1:30 of the half.

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