ANAHEIM, Calif. --- Senior guard Jaron Martin scored 18 points and sophomore forward Jonathan Galloway recorded nine rebounds and a career-high five blocked shots to lead top-seeded UC Irvine over No. 4 seed Long Beach State, 62-57, in a Big West Conference Tournament semifinal at the Honda Center Friday night.

UCI will UC Davis in Saturday night's final at 8:30 (ESPN2). The Anteaters and Aggies split during the regular season.

Senior guard Luke Nelson added 14 points while Galloway scored eight Friday night as UCI (21-13) advances to the Big West final for the sixth time in history and second in three years. The Anteaters won the championship in 2015 to earn a berth in the NCAA I Tournament for the first time in history.

Freshman forward Tommy Rutherford contributed six points and four boards while redshirt freshman guard Max Hazzard and freshman center Brad Greene also had four rebounds each in the "Black & Blue" Rivalry victory over LBSU.

UCI blocked a season-high 10 shots and held the 49ers (15-19) to 31.8 percent from the field as the 'Eaters won for the 16th time in their last 20 games. The 10 rejections are the second-highest in Big West tourney single-game history.

The Anteaters have won 72 of their last 76 games when holding the opposition to 60 points or less and 71 of their past 79 when limiting the opponents to under 40-percent shooting.

Justin Bibbins led the 49ers with 15 points, Noah Blackwell scored 11 and Temidayo Yussuf had 15 rebounds along with 10 points.

Martin, who had three steals in the game, scored 10 of his points in the opening 20 minutes as UCI took a 31-25 halftime lead.

The Anteaters led by as many as nine early in the second half and were still up 40-33 on a basket by Martin with 15:22 remaining, but LBSU went on a 13-2 run to go up 46-42 on a bucket from Barry Ogalue with 10:06 left.

Five straight points by Nelson keyed a 9-0 UCI run as the 'Eaters moved ahead 51-46 on a layup by Galloway with 6:09 remaining.

After a three by Bibbins cut the margin to 51-49 with 5:39 left, Nelson and Rutherford scored back-to-back baskets to give UCI a 55-49 advantage and the Anteaters held the lead for the rest of the game.

The 49ers did close within 57-53 with 3:00 remaining, but Galloway had a key block and rebound with 2:15 left to help thwart any LBSU hopes of a comeback.

"We are excited and honored to play in a high-level college basketball game," UCI head coach Russell Turner said. "I'm really proud of my guys with a great defensive effort that led to the win.

"I thought we showed championship character when we got down in the second half. We tightened the screws defensively and made some big plays."

Turner, the 2017 Big West Coach of the Year, has led UCI to five consecutive 20-win seasons and 114 victories in the last five years.