The Beach continues to write an intriguing tale in Henderson, with vet HC Dan Monson on his way out (forced or otherwise) at the end of the season, but in the process of making AD Bobby Smitheran look bad by steering Beach to the verge of a Big Dance bid after a pair of wins at the Dollar Loan Center. Those followed five losses, but the Beach has regrouped and took down top seed UCI last night even with top scorer Marcus Tsohonis (17.6 ppg) hobbling, as Aboubacar Traore and Jaden Jones starred. Meanwhile, UCD looks for a hat-trick over over the Beach, but not before the Ags almost suffered an epic meltdown in the semis vs. Hawaii. Play Beach (Big West at Henderson)

UC Davis, the favored team, ranks 202nd in possessions per game, well below the norm. Its defense generally keeps opponents in the 60s. Their regular season meetings wound up with big totals, but the tension of a league finals with only the winner advancing to the NCAA Tournament should bring those numbers down. A promising omen is Davis' 133-point game in the Big West semifinals.