Long Beach State University Athletics
49ers Beat Fullerton
1/18/2007 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Long Beach Races Past Titans
Nixon Scores 27 And Johnson Adds 20
January 18, 2007
| MEN'S BASKETBALL | 1 | 2 | FINAL | RECORDS |
| CS Fullerton | 35 | 50 | 85 | 13-4, 4-2 |
| Long Beach State | 39 | 56 | 95 | 12-5, 3-1 |
| Leading Scorers: LBSU:Aaron Nixon 27; CSUF: Bobby Brown 28 Leading Rebounders: LBSU: Byrd/Nixon 9; CSUF: Cutley/Burns 10 | ||||
| BOX SCORE | ||||
LONG BEACH, CA-- Aaron Nixon scored 27 points and Kejuan Johnson added 20 to lead Long Beach State to a 95-85 win over Cal State Fullerton on Thursday evening at the Walter Pyramid. The Beach improves to 12-5 overall and 3-1 in the Big West Conference, while the Titans fell out of first place in the league standings as they are 13-4 overall and 4-2 in league play.
Both teams blistered the nets in the second half as Long Beach State shot .568 (21-37), including seven-of-11 from three-point range, en route to its 56 second half points. The Titans shot .533 (16-30) in the half, but were just 3-9 from long-range.
The 49ers also got great contributions from Kevin Houston (14 points, 6 assists, no turnovers), Sterling Byrd (12 points, 9 rebounds) and Dominique Ricks (9 points, 8 rebounds). Long Beach out-rebounded the Titans 48-46 and committed a season-low seven turnovers. Long Beach was an impressive 11-21 (.524) from three-point range for the game. Nixon knocked down five three's on seven attempts while Johnson was three-of-eight.
Bobby Brown led Fullerton with 28 points, but he was just 3-10 from three-point range and 9-24 overall from the field. Scott Cutley tallied 23 points and 10 rebounds, with 19 of his 23 coming in the second half. Justin Burns added 14 points and 10 rebounds. The Titans committed just 11 turnovers in the contest but were just 6-23 (.261) from three-point range.
"I thought the game lived up to its expectations," said 49er Head Coach Larry Reynolds. "These were two teams that are very competitive and were offensive minded. It was one of those games where there were a lot of flows. I like the way our guys responded. We gave up a 13-point lead in the second half, but we responded and kept our composure and got the win."
Fullerton led 70-69 at the 7:36 mark after two free thows by Brown. But over the next 4:27, Long Beach went on a 20-9 run to grab an 89-79 lead. Houston had four points and four assists during that run and Johnson revved up the crowd with a four-point play with 4:09 on the clock expanding an 80-77 lead to 84-77. The Titans would get no closer than five points (84-79) the remainder of the contest.
In the first half, both teams struggled from the field as Long Beach shot .350 (14-40) and Fullerton .333 (14-42). The 49ers led 39-35 at the half thanks to a Nixon three right before the halftime buzzer.
Long Beach will next be in action on Saturday, January 20 when they host UC Riverside at 7:05 pm at the Walter Pyramid.
