49ers Rally To Beat Cal Poly
Louis Darby Scores Season-High 15 points
February 9, 2006 | MEN'S BASKETBALL | 1 | 2 | F | RECORDS | | Cal Poly | 37 | 29 | 66 | 6-14 / 4-4 | | Long Beach State | 23 | 46 | 69 | 11-10 / 6-4 | LBSU Leading Scorer: Louis Darby (15)
CP Leading Scorer: Derek Stockalper (17)
LBSU Leading Rebounder: Aaron Nixon (6)
CP Leading Rebounder: Derek Stockalper (10) | | BOX SCORE |
LONG BEACH, CA--The Long Beach State men's basketball overcame a 20-point deficit in the second half, to defeat conference foe Cal Poly 69-66 on Thursday night from the Walter Pyramid. The win kept the 49ers above .500 (11-10 overall) and 6-4 in Big West play. Cal Poly fell to 6-14, 4-4 Big West.
The Mustangs held a 48-28 lead after a Gabe Stephenson layup 16:23 into the second half. Long Beach State need 10 minutes to trim the lead to single digits, 59-51, after a Shawn Hawkins layup at the 6:15 mark. The Mustangs maintained a seven-point advantage, 63-56, after a pair of Trae Clark free throws with over four minutes left in regulation.
However, Louis Darby took over for LBSU and helped spark a 7-0 run with a key one and one, and the assist to Kevin Houston, who nailed a three-pointer with 1:38 left in regulation to give the 49ers the lead for good. Darby finished with a season and team-high 15 points. Jibril Hodges had 14 points, Kejuan Johnson 12 points, and Houston 11 points to round out the top 49er scoring leaders.
Derek Stockalper registered a double-double (17 points, 10 rebounds) for the Mustangs in the losing effort and Stephenson added 14 points.
"At halftime we talked about getting more pressure on them and speeding the game up," said 49ers head coach, Larry Reynolds. "We needed to force some turnovers. we were able to do that when we started doubling the ball. I liked our guys' tenacity, they didn't quit."
Long Beach State forced 15 second half turnovers, had five steals, and limited Cal Poly to just 37 percent shooting from the floor in the second stanza. The 49ers turned the ball over just five times in the second half.
The 49ers dug a hole with poor shooting in the first half. Long Beach was just 7-29 (.241) from the field and did not hit a three-pointer in eight attempts. Cal Poly shot .485 (16-33) in the half as Stockalper has 12 of his 17 in the initial stanza. Cal Poly led 37-23 at the intermission.
The 49ers return to action on Saturday vs. UC Santa Barbara at 5:30 pm from the Walter Pyramid. |
