BEACH BEGINS SEASON ON FRIDAY
49ers Travel To Charlotte For Opener
November 18, 2002
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**Special Note: Friday's game will be broadcast on KRLH (590 AM), not KRLA. The Charlotte and UCLA games will be aired on KRLH due to early start times.
LONG BEACH STATE MEN'S BASKETBALL
Overall Record: 0-0
Big West Record: 0-0
UPCOMING ACTION | Friday, Nov. 22 | | | | | at Charlotte | 4:35 pm | Halton Arena | Broadcast on
KRLH (590 AM) | | Tuesday, Nov. 26 | | | | | vs. CS Monterey Bay | 7:35 pm | The Pyramid | Broadcast on
www.kbeach.org |
49ER PROBABLE STARTERS
(Exhibition Game Totals)
| F | 30 | Kevin Roberts | (6-7, 235, Jr., 19.5 ppg, 8.5 rpg) | | F | 52 | Chris Jenkins | (6-7, 190, So., 11.0 ppg, 2.5 rpg) | | C | 32 | Vance Lawhorn | (6-8, 230, Sr., 4.5 ppg, 6.0 rpg) | | G | 1 | Jibril Hodges | (6-2, 170, Fr., 4.0 ppg, 6.0 apg) | | G | 20 | Tony Darden | (6-4, 200, Sr., 12.0 ppg, 3.5 rpg) |
Check out the 2002-03 Roster Check out the 2002-03 Schedule
The Records: Long Beach State begins its 53rd season of men's basketball on Friday evening at Charlotte. Last season the 49ers of Long Beach State were 13-17 overall and tied for 7th in the Big West at 9-9. The 49ers of Charlotte finished 18-12 last year, came in third place in the American Division of Conference USA and fell in the first round of the NCAA Tournament to Notre Dame. This is the fourth consecutive season that Long Beach State has begun the regular season on the road.
The Coach: Larry Reynolds (UC Riverside, 1976) enters his first year as the head man at Long Beach State. Reynolds compiled a career mark of 110-35 (.759) in five years as the head coach at Cal State San Bernardino. He led the Coyotes to two NCAA Division II Elite Eight appearances (1998-99, 2001-02) and four CCAA Championships. Last year CSUSB was 28-2 and advanced to the Elite Eight. He was named the CCAA Coach of the Year four consecutive seasons.
The Series Record: Charlotte leads in the short series by a 2-1 count. Last year at The Pyramid, Charlotte bounced the 49ers, 100-81. The lone LBSU win came on Feb. 12, 1990 at the Long Beach Arena, an 83-73 triumph. The only other meeting came on Nov. 25, 1991 in Charlotte, a 72-49 victory by the 49ers of Charlotte.
Beach Bounces Global Sports: Chris Jenkins' driving lay-up with seven seconds left on the clock proved to be the winning points as the 49ers defeated Global Sports, 78-77, on Wednesday evening. Tony Darden led the 49ers with 22 points as he hit 5-7 three-pointers. Kevin Roberts had 19 points and 9 rebounds, Jenkins added 14 points and Vance Lawhorn had 7 points and 5 rebounds. The 49ers shot .491 from the field and .464 (13-28) from three-point range. Long Beach also excelled at the charity stripe, hitting 9-11 (.818) of its free throw attempts.
Heading Home For Darden: Long Beach State senior Tony Darden will be returning to his home state of North Carolina when the 49ers tangle with Charlotte. Darden hails from Snow Hill and prepped at Greene County High School. As a senior, Darden was named the Eastern Plains Conference Player of the Year after averaging 18.0 points, 7.0 rebounds and 4.0 assists per game while being named first team All-State (2A).
Charlotte, The Other 49ers: Head Coach Bobby Lutz welcomes back six letterwinners for this season as Charlotte is coming off an 18-12 mark last year. Jobey Thomas is gone, last season's top scorer at 18.5 points per game, as is forward Cam Stephens, who averaged 13.2 points and a team-best 9.3 rebounds per game. But, the cupboard isn't empty. Guard Demon Brown, who lit the 49ers up for 27 points last year at The Pyramid, is back. Brown averaged 11.3 points and a team-high 4.2 assists per game in 2001-02, while shooting .337 (65-193) from three-point range. Backcourt running-mate Curtis Nash is also back after a strong junior year where he averaged 10.0 points and 3.6 rebounds per game. Look for newcomer Calvin Clemmons (6-8, 250, Jr.), a transfer from South Carolina, to have a big impact for the 49ers, along with freshman forward Curtis Withers (6-8, 230). The 49ers won their opening exhibition game, 78-61, over Latvia on November 13. Johnson led the way with 18 points and 11 rebounds and Withers added 16 points off the bench. Charlotte was set to host Global Sports on Monday, November 18.
Bowens Out For The Year: Sophomore guard Mark Bowens (Peoria, AZ) will miss the entire 2002-03 season due to a torn ACL in his left knee. Bowens suffered the injury on October 27 at the Fan Fest scrimmage game at The Pyramid. Bowens, a point guard, played in nine games last season as a true freshman, averaging 1.4 points per game.
Tough Schedule: The 49er non-conference schedule is extremely tough as five of the nine teams competed in the 2002 NCAA Tournament. Charlotte, UCLA, Gonzaga, Pepperdine and San Diego State are all on the schedule and all advanced to the NCAA's last season. Also on the docket are Southern Utah, Loyola Marymount, Portland and CS Monterey Bay. The five teams which went to NCAA play last year had a combined record of 110-49 (.692). Toss in UCSB, UC Irvine and Utah State, who all went to post-season play last year, and the 2002-03 schedule is one of the toughest in 49er history.
Nationally-Ranked Opponents: The USA Today/ESPN Coaches Top 25 Poll was released on November 1 and the 49ers will face two teams which are ranked in the Top 25 and three others which received votes. The 49ers will face #12 UCLA on December 8 at Pauley Pavilion and later that month, on the 20th of December, face #22 Gonzaga in Spokane, WA. Teams that received votes are Pepperdine (7), UC Santa Barbara (3) and Utah State (1).
TV Exposure: The 49ers will have 10 games which will be televised during the 2002-03 season, beginning on December 8 at UCLA. Five games will originate from The Pyramid, beginning with the Dec. 10 game vs. San Diego State which will be televised in San Diego by Channel 4, an independent station in San Diego. Other home TV games are: Jan. 16 vs. Idaho (Fox West 2), Jan. 29 vs. Cal Poly (KDOC), Feb. 6 vs. CS Fullerton (Fox West 2) and Feb. 19 vs. Pacific (KDOC).
Last Year Vs. Charlotte: Last season the 49ers of Charlotte came into The Pyramid and routed Long Beach, 100-81. Demon Brown had 27 points, Jobey Thomas 22 and Kevin Johnson 13 as Charlotte shot .667 (38-57) from the field and .684 (13-19) from three-point range. Ron Johnson led the 49ers with 21 points, Rudy Williams had 19 and Tony Darden 10. Charlotte led 60-36 at the half after connecting on 23-34 (.676) of its first half shots.
Roberts Off To A Great Start: Junior Kevin Roberts (Petaluma, CA) has been very impressive in the first two exhibition games thus far. In the opening game he scored 20 points and grabbed 8 rebounds vs. CS San Bernardino. Wednesday vs. Global Sports he had 19 points and 9 rebounds. After averaging 7.7 points per game last season, Roberts looks primed for a big year. Last season he scored a career-high 27 points in the 49ers win at home over UC Irvine and broke the 20-point barrier against IPFW when he scored 21. Roberts has hit 5-12 shots from three-point range in the exhibition season and is a long-range threat after connecting on 26-72 (.361) of his 3-pointers last season.
Williams Hits The Court: Senior Lemi Williams (Hayti, MO) saw his first action of the season vs. Global Sports and finished with 6 points in 13 minutes. Williams had been sidelined earlier this season with back problems, but he is getting back to full strength. Last season Williams missed the entire campaign due to problems with both of his tibias. In 2000-01 Williams was the third-leading scorer for the 49ers, averaging 11.7 points per game and connecting on 49-138 (.355) of his three-point attempts.
Hodges Dishing Out The Assists: True freshman Jibril Hodges (Park Forest, IL) started at the point guard spot for the 49ers in both of their exhibition games and has averaged 6.0 assists per game. Wednesday vs. Global Sports he recorded 9 assists to go along with his 3 points and 3 rebounds. In his opening game vs. CS San Bernardino, Hodges accounted for 5 points, 3 assists and 5 rebounds. In the two games, Hodges has 12 assists and 6 turnovers for a 2-1 assist-to-turnover ratio. Hodges was going to see plenty of playing time this season, but was pressed into immediate duty earlier than expected after sophomore Mark Bowens went down with an ACL injury on October 27. Hodges was a first team all-conference and all-region performer his senior year at Rich East HS where he averaged 19.5 points and 5.7 assists per game.
Darden Delivers: After a sub-par game vs. CS San Bernardino (2 points), senior Tony Darden (Snow Hill, NC) scored 22 points on Wednesday vs. Global Sports. Darden was 7-12 from the field and an impressive 5-7 from 3-point range. Darden, who averaged 10.1 points per game last season, is the 49ers leading returning long-range specialist after hitting 60-175 (.343) treys last season.
Pearson Picks Up Where He Left Off: Sophomore Cody Pearson (Sherman Oaks, CA) has picked up where he left off last year. Pearson averaged 2.3 points and 3.0 rebounds per game last season and provided the 49ers with great energy and hustle off the bench. Wednesday vs. Global Sports, Pearson had 4 points, 4 rebounds and 2 assists after scoring 8 points and grabbing 5 rebounds in the first exhibition game vs. CS San Bernardino.
Jenkins Fires Away: Sophomore Chris Jenkins (Albuquerque, NM) is off to a great start after the two exhibition games. The 6-7 forward, who was named to the Big West Conference All-Freshman Team last season, scored 14 points Wednesday vs. Global Sports, including the game-winning basket with just seven seconds left. Jenkins was 6-7 from the field and 2-3 from three-point range vs. Global. Last year Jenkins averaged 5.3 points and 1.9 rebounds per game and set a new school record for three-point field goal percentage as he shot .491 (26-53) from long-range last year.
Lawhorn In The Middle: Senior Vance Lawhorn (Las Vegas, NV) looks to be in great shape and has played well in the two exhibition games. Wednesday vs. Global Sports, Lawhorn had 7 points, 5 rebounds and 2 blocks in 20 minutes. In the opening exhibition game he had just 2 points, but finished with 7 rebounds. The lanky 6-8 senior averaged 4.5 points and 2.6 rebounds per game last season coming off the bench. He hit double-digits twice, scoring 15 vs. IPFW and 13 in a key Big West victory at Cal State Northridge.
Hitting The Boards: The 49ers have outrebounded both of their exhibition opponents. In the opener vs. CS San Bernardino, the 49ers won the battle of the boards 45-32, including 15 offensive rebounds. Wednesday vs. Global Sports the 49ers won the battle again, this time by a 34-30 count. LBSU is averaging 39.5 rebounds per game in exhibition games after averaging just 33.5 rebounds per game last season.
Free Throw Shooting Looks Good: The 49ers have connected on 17-22 (.773) of its free throw attempts in the two exhibition games. Wednesday vs. Global Sports the 49ers were 9-11 at the charity stripe after going 8-11 (.727) in the opening exhibition game vs. CS San Bernardino. Last season the 49ers shot just .640 (380-594) from the charity stripe. The only problem is that the 49ers have gone to the free throw line an average of just 11 times per game. Last season the 49ers went to the charity stripe an average of 19.8 times per contest.
Two Walk-On's: Two walk-on's join the 49ers this fall in Travis Clark and Ulric Pattillo. Clark played two years at Mira Costa College in Oceanside, CA where he averaged 12.0 points, 8.0 rebounds and 2.0 assists per game as a sophomore. He was a second team All-Pacific Coast Conference selection last year and a two-time league Player of the Week. Pattillo prepped at Narbonne High School where he lettered two years in basketball, averaging 8.0 points, 3.0 rebounds and 2.0 assists per game last season as a senior. He helped lead the Gauchos to the 2002 Marine League championship and the 2001 Los Angeles City Invitational title.
Waiting On Word For Souza: The 49ers are still awaiting word on the eligibility of senior forward Tadeu Souza (Sao Paulo, Brazil). Souza filed for a sixth year of eligibility due to numerous injuries during his junior college and collegiate career. The 49ers hope to have a final answer by Friday, November 22, but it all depends on the NCAA Committee that will review his case as to how long they will take.
Three-Point Firepower: The 49ers hit 13-28 (.491) of its three-point attempts in the victory over Global Sports on Wednesday. Tony Darden was 5-7, Kevin Roberts 3-8, Lemi Williams 2-4 and Chris Jenkins 2-3. In the opening exhibition game the 49ers were just 3-17 (.176) from long-range. Last year the 49ers were 193-570 (.339) from beyond the arc. The 193 made three's was the second-most in school history, just missing the school-record of 200 set in 1992-93. The 570 attempts was a new record, breaking the old mark of 534 set in 2000-01. The best team three-point percentage for a season came in 1986-87 when The Beach connected on 155-393 treys for a .394 percentage.
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