Long Beach State University Athletics
Byrd Leads 49ers To Win
3/9/2007 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
49ers Used Balanced Attack To Win
Byrd Leads Way With 20 Points, 12 Rebounds
March 9, 2007
| MEN'S BASKETBALL | 1 | 2 | FINAL | RECORDS |
| UC Irvine | 35 | 28 | 63 | 15-18 |
| Long Beach State | 38 | 39 | 77 | 23-7 |
| Leading Scorers: LBSU: Sterling Byrd 20; UCI: Chuma Awaji 19 Leading Rebounders: LBSU: Sterling Byrd 12; UCI: Chuma Awaji 5 | ||||
| BOX SCORE | ||||
ANAHEIM, CA-- Four players scored in double figures, led by Sterling Byrd's 20 points, lifting Long Beach State to a 77-63 win over UC Irvine in the semi-finals of the Big West Tournament at the Anaheim Convention Center. The Beach moves to Saturday's championship game and will take on the winner of Friday's second semi-final between CS Fullerton and Cal Poly. The 49ers improve to 23-7 overall while UCI concludes its year at 15-18.
Byrd produced his fourth double-double of the season as he added 12 rebounds, plus two blocks, in his 37 minutes of action. Aaron Nixon scored 16 points and Dominique Ricks and Kevin Houston added 11 apiece. The 49es shot .532 (25-47) from the field for the game, the fourth consecutive game Long Beach State has shot over. 500 from the field. Long Beach also out-rebounded the Anteaters 31-to-24.
The 49ers broke open the game in the early stages of the second half. Leading 40-37 at the 18:23 mark, Long Beach went on a 10-0 run over the next three minutes. Nixon's long three at 15:31 ended the run and gave the 49ers a 50-37 lead. The lead grew to as many as 17 points, 61-44, at the 8:09 mark after a three by Byrd. The lead would stay in double digits the remainder of the game.
UCI was led by Chuma Awaji's 19 points and 14 points from Patrick Sanders. UCI shot .426 (20-47) from the field and 15-18 (.833) at the free throw line, but the Anteaters committed 18 turnovers and they had just two offensive rebounds. After shooting .542 (13-24) in the opening stanza, UCI shot just .304 (7-23) in the second half.
"It's good to finally get out and play," said 49er Head Coach Larry Reynolds. "We had some rust to shake off. I thought our guys got to the boards and created a lot of free throw opportunities for us. We thought we could use our fresh legs against them in the second half. Even through foul trouble, our guys perservered. I'm pleased with our second half performance. I thought our guys came out with pizazz and fight and posted a good shooting percentage."
In a tight first half, the 49ers took a 38-35 lead into the lockerroom after Artis Gant banked in a three-pointer at the buzzer. Both teams shot the ball well, UCI shot .542 (13-24) and the 49ers .556 (15-27), but each team was plagued by turnovers. UCI had 11 in the opening half, the 49eres eight. The 49ers had a 29-23 lead with 5:11 to go before UCI used a 5-0 run to pull to within 29-28 with 3:21 left on a jumper by Sanders. A Mark Dawson lay-up game Long Beach a 35-33 lead with 52 seconds left, but UCI tied the game on its next possession on two free throws by Awaji.
The 49ers received 15 points off its bench on Friday night, as Dawson and Louis Darby each scored six points and Gant three. Dawson also added four rebounds and a block in 11 minutes of action. Nixon, who fouled out of the game with 2:39 left, also added four assists to his 16 points. Houston dished out five assists and Ricks added two assists, two steals and three boards to his 11-point effort. More importantly, Ricks was able to limit the UCI inside game which had hurt the 49ers the previous two meetings. Anteater center Mark Kelley, who had 25 points the last time the two teams played, finished with just six points and three rebounds in 13 minutes, plus he fouled out of the contest.
Long Beach will appear in the Big West title game for the second consecutive season, and for the eighth time in school history. The last time Long Beach State won the Big West Tournament title was in the 1995 season when they defeated the University of Nevada 76-69 in overtime in Las Vegas, NV.
