Beach Races Past Cal Poly 86-72
Darby and Hodges Both Record Career-High's
January 5, 2004
LONG BEACH, CA-- The Long Beach State men's basketball team (2-0 Big West, 4-7) continued their undefeated streak in the Big West Conference with an 86-72 win over the Cal Poly Mustangs (0-2 Big West, 5-5) Monday night at The Pyramid. The 49ers were led by Saturday's hero for The Beach Louis Darby with a career-high 20 points and Jibril Hodges added a career-high 21 points. Kevin Roberts recorded his fifth double-double of the season in the win with 13 points and 11 rebounds. The 86 points is a season-high in game scoring for the 49ers.
The 49ers started the second half with an 8-0 run to lead 54-41 with 18:28 remaining, capped off by a pull-up three by Chris Jenkins. The Mustangs tried to come back and came within 62-55 with 11:54 left to play after a three by Kameron Gray, but The Beach would pull away after a trey by Hodges and a four-pount play by Jenkins with 9:14 remaining to push the 49ers lead to 69-55. Cal Poly cut LBSU's lead to seven, 70-63 after a three-pointer by Taylor McGinn at the 5:50 mark, but The Beach would prove to be too much, pulling away with a final 14-7 run and their second consecutive victory of the season.
The Beach had three players in double digits. Kevin Roberts picked up 13 points and 11 rebounds for his fifth double-double of the season. The 49ers shot 50% (29-58) for the game and 54% from the three-point line (7-of-13). Both teams had 35 rebounds apiece during the game.
"We had some guys going good and we got the ball to them," said Head Coach Larry Reynolds. "The guys are getting a little more comfortable with our offense and they now know their roles."
Cal Poly had four players in double-digits. Varnie Dennis led the Mustangs with 18 points and 11 rebounds, while Mike Titchenal recorded a career-high 16 points, and Kameron Gray and Tyler McGinn added 13 and 12 points respectively. CP committed 19 turnovers compared to LBSU's 13, and shot just 39% from the field (22-of-57).
The Mustangs stayed in the game in the first half by hitting 8-18 three-pointers. Titchenal was 4-6 from long-range for 12 first half points. The 49ers shot an impressive .586 (17-29) from the field in the first half en route to building a 46-41 lead. The 46 points was the most in a first half this season for The Beach.
The 49ers will hit the road for their next two games as they travel to Pacific on Thursday, January 8 and Northridge on Saturday, January 10.
BOX SCORE
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