SANTA BARBARA, Calif. – Justin Bibbins scored 25 points and A.J. Spencer added 14 and visiting Long Beach State led from start-to-finish in a 77-67 win over UC Santa Barbara on Wednesday. 

The 49ers (9-11 overall, 3-2 in Big West) scored eight straight points to turn a 2-2 game into a 10-2 game and the Gauchos (7-10, 1-3) never got closer than three points the rest of the way. 

"We've dug ourselves a hole and now we're going to have to climb back out," said UCSB head coach Bob Williams. "I have to give Long Beach some credit, I thought they did some things that took us out of our rhythm, but either way we did not start the game with as much urgency as it takes to win in this league." 

The 49ers pushed the lead to 15 in the second half, the last time on a three-pointer by Travis Hammonds with 11:38 left to make the score 58-43. 

UCSB crept back to within 71-65 when Michael Bryson rolled in a lay-up with 3:20 left in the game, but Long Beach responded with a pair of Gabe Levin free throws and a lay-up by Bibbins to push the advantage back to 75-65. Bryson finished with a team-high 23 points and now has 1,346 in his career, 13^th on the Gauchos' all-time list. He fouled out with 2:04 to play. 

"I thought we fought back in the second half and I'm happy about that," Williams said. "It wasn't enough, but we never quit." 

Bibbins made 8-of-12 field goal attempts overall all five of his three-point attempts. As a team, the 49ers shot 50.0% from the field. After making just 8-of-23 field goal attempts in the first half, the Gauchos went 16-of-34 in the second half to finish at 42.1% for the game. They also won the rebound battle, 38-28.

Gabe Vincent added 15 points and John Green had 12, plus seven rebounds, for UCSB. It was Green's first game after he missed nearly all of seven with a knee injury. 

"I felt pretty good out there," he said. "I worked hard at my conditioning when I was out and that helped. The knee was definitely okay."