Long Beach State University Athletics
Nixon Leads 49ers Past Pepperdine
12/7/2006 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
49ers Outrun Waves Following 95-90 Win
Byrd Flies to Career-Best 26 Points
December 7, 2006
| MEN'S BASKETBALL | 1 | 2 | FINAL | RECORDS |
| Pepperdine | 36 | 54 | 90 | 2-7 |
| Long Beach St. | 41 | 54 | 95 | 4-4 |
| Leading Scorers: LBSU: Byrd-26; PEPP: Lea-34 Leading Rebounders: LBSU: Ricks-11; PEP: Griffin-7 | ||||
| BOX SCORE | ||||
LONG BEACH, CA-- Sterling Byrd scored a career-high 26 points, leading four players in double figures, as Long Beach State (4-4) won its second-straight following a 95-90 win over visiting Pepperdine (2-7) on Thursday evening. It was the 49ers first time at home in five games.
"We expect to be able to score some points," said Head Coach Larry Reynolds. "It was good to see us make some shots and they were good shots. It was awkward to Kejuan Johnson to play with the mask. Hopefully it's a work in progress. The more he plays with it, the more he'll get used to it."
Johnson, wearing a mask and missing the previous three games with a broken nose, added a season-high 15 points for LBSU. Aaron Nixon added 21 points and a career-best eight assists. Thanks to 14 combined assists from Johnson and Nixon, the 49ers had a season-high 20 connected passes.
Pepperdine was led by Marvin Lea's 34 points on 11-of-18 shooting, one of four players in double digits. Pepperdine shot 48 percent in the game, following a 53 percent clip in the second half
LBSU shot 57 percent for the contest, also setting a season-high with 10 made three-pointers and total points. The 49ers shot 62 percent in the second half.
A Nixon three-pointer forced a Pepperdine timeout with 15:26 left in the half, as the 49ers opened up the half on a 15-7 run to lead 56-43 and remained well in front for the rest of the contest.
The 49ers led 41-36 at the half, as The Beach cooled after making 11 of their first 19 shots. LBSU still shot 52 percent over the first 20 minutes, compared to just 42 percent shooting by the Waves. Pepperdine hit two quick three's with under two minutes left to cut the lead to single digits. The Waves missed 14-of-20 three-point attempts in the first half.
Chris Peys first career points put The Beach into double digits for the first time, making it 32-22 with 6:40 left. A Dawson reverse layup made it 23-15 with 12:47 left, part of eight-straight by The Beach to quickly erase a 15-15 tie. The 49ers never trailed after that.
The 49ers host Sacramento State as part of a doubleheader with the women's team (4 p.m. and 7 p.m. starts) on Saturday. The women host UNLV.
