ANAHEIM, Calif. – The University of Hawai'i men's basketball team fell short in defense of its 2016 Big West Tournament title following a 73-62 quarterfinal round loss to Long Beach State Thursday night at the Honda Center.
 
In a rematch of last year's title game, UH and Long Beach State went toe-to-toe for the majority of the game before the 49ers used a late run to pull away. Hawai'i concluded the season with a third straight loss to finish at 14-16.
 
Meanwhile, LBSU (15-18) advanced to Friday's semifinals against top-seed UC Irvine at 6:30 p.m. PST with its second straight win over UH, including the regular-season finale. The 49ers also avenged two straight losses to the 'Bows in the Big West Tournament.
 
Noah Allen led UH with 21 points to wrap up his career, while Gibson Johnson had 18.
 
Justin Bibbins scored a career-high 27 points for the 49ers who shot 53 percent for the game.
 
In a typical 4-5 matchup, the game was tight from the get-go. UH clung to a 35-33 lead at the break with Allen (14) and Johnson (11) combining for 25 of the team's points
 
Through the first 30 minutes, neither team led by more than six points and the game was tied 54-54. But that's when things turned south for UH. The 49ers went on a decisive 17-1 run during a nearly six minute stretch to make it 71-55 with 2:11 left.
 
The Beach out-scored the 'Bows 40-27 in the second half in which UH was held to 30 percent shooting and only 1-of-10 from beyond the arc.