ANAHEIM – Senior guard Lorenzo Keeler scored a game-best 27 points and matched 30-year-old Big West Conference Tournament records for both attempted (18) and converted (16) free throws as the No. 6 Cal Poly men’s basketball team won its first tournament game in nearly three years and advanced to the quarterfinal phase with a 73-69 victory against seventh-seeded UC Irvine on Wednesday evening at the Anaheim Convention Center.

Sophomore forward David Hanson added 15 points and nine rebounds for Cal Poly (12-18), which led UC Irvine (14-18), 71-69, with 22 seconds remaining. After grabbing a missed Hanson free throw, however, Anteaters forward Eric Wise was whistled for an offensive charge at the other end of the court and Keeler knocked down a pair of free throws to preserve Cal Poly’s first tournament victory since the Mustangs reached the 2007 championship game.

Freshman guard Kyle Odister converted a trio of three-pointers for Cal Poly, which avenged a 91-84 overtime loss suffered against UC Irvine just four days prior. With the victory, Cal Poly advanced to face No. 3 Long Beach State on Thursday at 6 p.m. Tom Barket will provide play-by-play detail on ESPN 1280 in San Luis Obispo County and online at espnradio1280.com, beginning with the pre-game show at 5:40 p.m.

“It was very emotional because it’s the first round of the tournament and because we’ve got a first-year coach,” Cal Poly head coach Joe Callero said. “That and the fact that we played (UC Irvine) back-to-back and the fact that we got stabbed in the eye with the last game, but the fact holds up that in 20 hours we’ve got another game.”

UC Irvine hit two field goals during the opening 76 seconds, but the Mustangs held the Anteaters scoreless for the ensuing three-and-a-half minutes and built an 11-4 advantage. Keyed by a layup from guard Emil Kim, however, UC Irvine returned with a 16-7 run during a seven-minute stretch to snatch its first lead since the opening seconds.

Cal Poly trailed until Keeler found sophomore forward Jordan Lewis for a layup four-and-a-half minutes from halftime that provided the Mustangs a 27-26 lead. The advantage lasted just 28 seconds, however, as the Anteaters struck back with a three-pointer from guard Mike Wilder and a layup from forward Adam Folker. Cal Poly, which yielded a 59.3 percent first half field goal mark, also allowed a jumper under the basket from guard Darren Moore with a second remaining before halftime as UC Irvine extended its intermission lead to 35-29.

A three-pointer from guard Patrick Rembert pushed UC Irvine’s lead to as much as 45-31 with 17 minutes to play before Keeler – highlighted by a three-point play and a three-pointer – recorded eight-straight points to cut Cal Poly’s deficit to 45-39. Wise eventually ended Keeler’s scoring spree with a jumper, but Odister produced all three of his three-pointers during a five-minute span to give Cal Poly a 55-54 lead.

Cal Poly trailed just twice more during the final eight-and-a-half minutes, but never by a single point.

“These guys have found a way to scrap every single game, especially the last seven games,” Callero added. “Every single game – except for the win in Hawai’i (102-89) – has come down to the last 30 seconds. The more times you’re in critical conditions, you find a way to win and these guys know how to do it.”