O’Kelley’s Last Shot Lifts Long Beach, 65-63

STOCKTON —  When the run started, Terrance O’Kelley was calm. As the crowd roared, O’Kelley stayed cool. And when the chaos reached its zenith, O’Kelley took the game-winning shot in Long Beach State’s 65-63 Big West Conference victory over Pacific on Thursday night before 3,314 at the Spanos Center.

O’Kelley, a fifth-year senior forward, made a 12-foot shot along the left baseline with 21 seconds to play to give the second-place 49ers, 12-6 and 8-3 in the conference, their fifth consecutive victory and their first at Pacific since they won, 80-75, during the 1989-90 season--the year before Seth Greenberg became head coach.

“I picked up and dribbled once so I could get a better chance to shoot it,” said O’Kelley, who finished with 10 points on five-of-six shooting.

“I didn’t know how much was up there (on the clock), so I put it up. Luckily, it went in for us.”

Yes, especially since the 49ers squandered a 15-point second-half lead. O’Kelley put Long Beach ahead, 54-39, with 11:37 to go.

The winning shot actually came on a broken play, as Tiger forward Charles Jones slapped the ball away from starting point guard Tye Mays who was attempting to pass to O’Kelley. However, O’Kelley grabbed the loose ball, dribbled once and let go a high-arcing shot over Pacific forward Marzell Clayton.

Pacific (11-7, 6-5), though, still had a shot--two to be exact.

Tiger Coach Bob Thomason opted not to call time out and Mark Boelter, a skilled long-range shooter, tried to win the game with a three-point shot with only three seconds showing on the clock. He missed, but guard Corey Anders grabbed the rebound and shot with one second left. Anders also missed, stopping Greenberg’s breath for a few moments.

“Well, I got my two goals done,” Greenberg said. “I lasted all 40 minutes and we won despite everything.”

Hot-shooting guard Rasul Salahuddin scored a career-high 20 points on eight-of-11 shooting for Long Beach. He made four of five three-point baskets.