HENDERSON, Nev. (AP) — Lassina Traore had a career-high 25 factors, Marcus Tsohonis scored 25 and hit two clutch free throws with 3.6 seconds remaining to assist No. 4 seed Lengthy Seashore State beat second-seeded UC Davis 74-70 on Saturday evening within the championship sport of the Large West Convention Event, sending coach Dan Monson to the NCAA Event in his closing season with the Seashore.
It was an unbelievable run for the Seashore after the college introduced on Monday it might half methods with Monson after 17 seasons.
Lassina Traore sank 12 of 17 pictures and his solely free throw for Lengthy Seashore State (21-14), which entered the match on a five-game dropping streak earlier than beating No. 5 seed UC Riverside and top-seeded UC Irvine to succeed in the ultimate. He added 9 rebounds, 5 of them on the offensive finish. Tsohonis hit 8 of 21 pictures with 4 3-pointers and 5 of 6 foul pictures.
Aboubacar Traore, no relation to Lussina, completed with seven factors, 13 rebounds and 6 assists for the Seashore. AJ George added 9 factors and 7 rebounds off the bench.
Ty Johnson paced the Aggies (20-13) with 30 factors, six rebounds and 4 assists. Elijah Pepper hit 4 3-pointers and scored 21, including 9 rebounds and three assists.
Johnson had 11 factors and Pepper scored 10 to information UC Davis to a 32-27 benefit at halftime. Tsohonis had 15 factors on the break to maintain Lengthy Seashore State shut.
Lussina Traore scored 19 within the second half. His rebound basket pulled Lengthy Seashore State even at 54-all and George adopted with a 3-pointer to offer the Seashore a 57-54 lead with 7:29 remaining. It was their first lead since 15-12.
UC Davis closed to inside a degree twice and trailed 72-70 on an Ade Adebayo layup with 4 seconds to go, however Tsohonis was clutch on the line to wrap up the win.
Monson, who began Gonzaga’s unprecedented run of success when he led the Bulldogs to the Elite Eight in 1999 earlier than leaving to take over an embattled Minnesota Golden Gophers program and turning Gonzaga’s reins over to Mark Few, has the Seashore within the Large Dance for the primary time since he took them 2012 when LBSU was referred to as the 49ers.
Monson leaves as the college’s winningest coach. He at present has 275 victories towards 272 losses.
