Long Beach wins third in a row

Long Beach State guards Kevin Houston and Aaron Nixon combined to score 48 points Thursday and the 49ers remained in first place in the Big West Conference with an 80-77 victory over Cal Poly at San Luis Obispo. The 49ers, 16-6 overall, 7-2 in conference, won their third in a row.

Cal Poly (11-10, 3-5) was led by Matt Hanson’s career-high 19 points off the bench.

UC Santa Barbara 71, UC Irvine 62 -- Cecil Brown scored 21 of his 23 points in the second half to lead the Gauchos (15-6, 6-2) past the Anteaters (11-14, 5-6) at Santa Barbara.

Cal State Fullerton 82, Pacific 77 -- Frank Robinson scored 19 points and the Titans (17-5, 7-3) defeated the Tigers (8-14, 4-5) in Stockton for the first time since 2003.

Cal State Northridge 89, UC Riverside 69 -- Calvin Chitwood had 16 points and 13 rebounds and the Matadors (11-12, 4-6) defeated the Highlanders (5-18, 1-8) at Northridge. Larry Cunningham had 24 points for Riverside.