BEACH LOSES AT SOUTHERN UTAH, 79-67 December 4, 2002
CEDAR CITY, UT--Jordan Mulford scored a career-high 19 points and Al Williams chipped in with 17 as Southern Utah defeated Long Beach State 79-67 on Wednesday evening at the Spectrum. Southern Utah, which led from the opening tip, improved to 2-2 while the 49ers fell to 1-3. The Thunderbirds were able to slow down the 49er offense with a tough zone defense. LBSU was just 4-14 from three-point range in the first half and fell behind 41-31 at intermission. SUU put on the pressure offensively as they worked their offense perfectly. The Thunderbirds shot .553 (26-47) from the field for the game, .905 (19-21) from the free throw line and outrebounded the taller 49ers 33 to 23. Southern Utah had been outrebounded in its previous three games by an average of over seven rebounds per outing. Long Beach shot a respectable .458 (22-48) from the field overall, but hit just eight of 22 shots in the first half (.364). Lemi Williams led the 49ers with a season-high 18 points in 31 minutes of action. Tony Darden, who was averaging over 21 points per game heading into the contest, had 14 points, but was held to just two in the second half. Darden was 2-5 from three-point range, but a smothering SUU defense limited him to just four field goal attempts in the second half. Kevin Roberts finished with 14 points on six of nine shooting. Antoine Jackson had a strong outing off the bench with eight points and four rebounds. Mulford, who was averaging just over three points per game heading into Wednesday's game, was 5-11 from three-point range and a perfect 4-4 at the free throw line for his career-high 19 points. The Thunderbirds were able to get Mulford open at the top of the key for the majority of his long-range attempts. SUU was also able to penetrate the 49er defense and find open players on the low post. Point guard Jay Collins had a career-high 12 assists and just two turnovers in running the Thunderbird offense. Kevin Henry added 16 points, giving the Thunderbirds three players in double digits. Long Beach did a better job of holding onto the basketball, committing just 13 turnovers, but cold shooting a a porous defense led the the defeat. The 49ers will next be in action on Sunday, December 8 when they play at UCLA. Tip-off is scheduled for 1:05 pm in Pauley Pavilion.
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