Long Beach State University Athletics
49ers Head To Orange County
2/25/2008 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Feb. 25, 2008
LONG BEACH -
Complete Release in PDF Format 
THE RECORDS •49ers 6-20 On Season •Face Orange County Foes This Week Long Beach State will play its final two road games of the season this week as they travel to Orange County to play UC Irvine on Thursday (7:30 pm) and Cal State Fullerton on Saturday (6 pm). The 49ers are 6-20 overall and 3-9 in the Big West. UC Irvine is 12-14 overall and 6-6 in league play, while CS Fullerton is 18-7 overall and 10-3 in the Big West.
THE COACH •Dan Monson In First Year At Long Beach •Career Record Of 176-143 In 10 Years Dan Monson (Idaho `85) is 6-20 (.231) in his first season as the head coach at Long Beach State. Monson has compiled a 176-143 (.552) record his 11th year as a Division I head coach. He was 52-17 (.754) in two years at Gonzaga, leading the Bulldogs to the Elite Eight in 1999. In eight years at Minnesota he compiled a 118-106 (.527) mark with five post-season appearances.
THE SERIES •LBSU Leads UC Irvine, 47-29 •LBSU Leads CS Fullerton, 57-37 The 49ers lead in their series with UC Irvine by a 47-29 count. On February 2 the Anteaters won in Long Beach 70-48. The 49ers lost six of their last seven games at the Bren Events Center, including an 88-84 defeat last season. The 49ers lead their series with CS Fullerton by a 57-37 margin. The Titans snapped a six-game losing skid to the 49ers with a 91-75 win on January 31 in the Walter Pyramid. Long Beach has won two in a row at Titan Gym, including a 94-84 triumph last year.
49ERS FALL AT NEW MEXICO STATE •Cornel Williams Scores 10 Points The 49ers never got any offensive rhythm and fell on Saturday night at New Mexico State 80-48. Cornel Williams led the way with 10 points, while Greg Plater and Donovan Morris each had nine points. Freshman Lauren Heard had a career-high eight points off the bench. The Aggies out-rebounded the 49ers 55-to-26 and shot .492 from the field. The 49er defense held strong in the first half, forcing 14 of NMSU's 20 turnovers and limiting the high-scoring Aggies to just 33 first half points.
49ERS JUST FALL SHORT TO MATADORS •Four Players Hit Double Digits Battling back from a 15-point deficit (66-51) with 8:57 left, the 49ers got to within two points (72-70) with 2:47 remaining, but couldn't get over the final hump and fell to visiting Cal State Northridge 82-78 at the Walter Pyramid. Long Beach used a 19-6 run to get back into the contest, but CSUN hit six-of-eight free throws in the final 0:38 to seal the victory. Donovan Morris led the way for the 49ers with 23 points, Greg Plater added 15 and Maurice Clady had 14 points and six assists. The 49ers shot .483 (14-29) from the field in the second half and were 32-43 (.744) at the free throw line. The game saw a total of 55 fouls and 76 free attempts by both squads. Tremaine Townsend led CSUN with 18 points and 14 rebounds.
UC IRVINE FACTS •Anteaters Beat Idaho UC Irvine improved to 12-14 overall after a 69-55 win over Idaho on Saturday. The Anteaters are 6-6 in the Big West, but dropped their last contest at UC Riverside 85-76. Against Idaho, Darren Fells led the way with 14 points and nine rebounds. On the season, Patrick Sanders is averaging 15.3 points per game and Fells is right behind him at 14.5 points per outing, while leading the squad in rebounding at 6.8 boards per game. UCI is averaging 67.9 points per game and is shooting .452 from the field. Anteater opponents are averaging 66.5 points per game and are shooting .472 overall.
FIRST MEETING WITH UC IRVINE •Anteaters Win 70-48 On February 2 in Long Beach, the Anteaters dominated the 49ers 70-48. Darren Fells had 17 points and 11 rebounds and Michael Hunter 16 points as UCI shot .531 (26-49) from the field. Donovan Morris was the lone 49er in double digits with 20 points. The 49ers shot just .349 (15-43) from the field and were out-rebounded 33-to-21.
CS FULLERTON FACTS •Titans In 2nd Place In Big West Cal State Fullerton heads into the week at 18-7 overall and 10-3 in the Big West Conference. Last week the Titans defeated Portland State at home 85-69. Four players hit double digits, led by 26 points from Josh Akognon. Frank Robinson had a double-double with 20 points and 11 rebounds as the Titans shot .514 (36-70) from the field. On the year, Akognon leads the way in scoring at 20.2 points per game. He is shooting .384 (88-229) from three-point range. Robinson checks in at 16.4 points and 7.0 rebounds per outings and senior Scott Cutley is averaging 14.2 points and 7.5 boards per game. CSUF is averaging 83.3 points per game and is shooting .477 from the field. Titan opponents are averaging 73.8 points per game and are shooting .473.
FIRST MEETING WITH CS FULLERTON •Titans Won 91-75 On January 31 the two teams met at the Walter Pyramid and CS Fullerton came away with a 91-75 win. CSUF led 49-43 at the half, but pushed the advantage to double-digits midway through the second half. Donovan Morris led the 49ers with 31 points and Maurice Clady added 13. Josh Akognon and Frank Robinson both had 18 points to lead CSUF. The Titans shot .507 from the field and .500 (12-24) from three-point range. Long Beach had 17 turnovers in the game, while CSUF had just nine.
ASSISTS TO TURNOVERS •Better Showing In Past Six Games On the year the 49ers are averaging 13.4 assists and 16.3 turnovers per game (-2.9). But, in its last six games the 49ers are averaging 12.7 assists and 13.2 turnovers per contest. Six times this season the 49ers have had more assists than turnovers in a contest and three times they have had the same number of assists and turnovers. On February 16 at CS Bakersfield the 49ers had just nine turnovers, it second-lowest total of the year. On January 19 the 49ers had a season-low eight turnovers at UC Riverside.
IRON MAN •Morris Leads Big West In Minutes Junior Donovan Morris has been an "Iron Man" for the 49ers this season. He leads the team, and the Big West Conference, averaging 37.2 minutes played per game. He played all 45 minutes in the 49ers overtime game at Pepperdine and at Hawai'i, at UCSB, at UC Riverside and at home against CS Fullerton and UC Irvine this past week he played all 40 minutes. All-together, he has been on the court for 968 of the 49ers 1,055 minutes of action this season (.918).
Donovan Morris •Four 30-Plus Point Games This Season Junior guard Donovan Morris continues to put up outstanding offensive numbers for the 49ers this season. He leads the squad in scoring at 20.8 points per game (23.8 ppg in Big West outings), and had hit double digits in 24 consecutive contests until this past Saturday where he was held to nine points at New Mexico State. Morris also is the 49ers leading rebounder at 5.4 boards per game. In the win against UC Riverside (2/13) he picked up his second double-double of the year with 26 points and 10 rebounds. He was 15-16 at the free throw line, including 11-of-12 in the final 1:35 of the game. At CS Bakersfield (2/16) he tied his career-high with 32 points. It was his fourth game this season he's tallied 30 or more points. On January 10 against Pacific at home he scored 32 points. He then tallied a team-high 20 points in the win over UC Davis (Jan. 12) and was honored by being named the Big West Player of the Week (Jan. 14), his second league honor of the season. He has 16 games with 20 or more points this year, including 11 of the past 13 games. Morris was named the Big West Player of the Week on December 24 after he recorded a then-career-high 26 points in the 49ers 71-68 win over San Francisco.
Greg Plater •18 Points In Home Win Over UCR Freshman Greg Plater broke out of a slump with a big game on February 13, scoring 18 points in the win over UC Riverside. Plater was 6-of-10 from three-point range in the contest and added two rebounds and an assist. The six made three's is a career-high for him. In his previous seven games he was just 3-of-19 (.158) from long-range. At CS Bakersfield he finished with 10 points and in last Wednesday's game vs. CS Northridge he had 15 points. In his last four games he is averaging 13.0 points per game and shooting .423 (11-26) from three-point range. Plater also came up big in the win over UC Davis (1/12) scoring 18 points, grabbing six rebounds and dishing out four assists. Plater was 7-of-10 from the field and hit three of his five three-pointers. Plater is averaging 7.3 points per game this season and is second on the team in three-pointers made with 35 (35-103, .340). Plater tallied 15 points at California and followed that up with 13 points against Bucknell at the Cal Golden Bear Classic in December. Plater has hit double digits eight times this season, with his career-high of 21 points coming on November 21 at Pepperdine. His 35 made three-pointers ranks second on the 49er Freshman Chart. Jibril Hodges knocked down 36 three's as a freshman in 2002-03.
Arturas Lazdauskas •Career-High 12 Points at CS Bakersfield Sophomore Arturas Lazdauskas continues to impress lately for the 49ers. He has been in the starting lineup the past eight games. At CS Bakersfield he had a career-high 12 points, adding six rebounds and two assists in 33 minutes. Wednesday vs. CS Northridge he had five points, five rebounds and three assists. At Pacific (2/9) he had 10 points, hitting five-of-seven shots. Over his last 11 games he is averaging 5.8 points and 4.7 rebounds per game, hitting double digits in scoring three times. He earned his first start as a 49er against CS Fullerton (1/31) and finished with eight points, a career-high 10 rebounds and five assists in 34 minutes of action. Lazdauskas scored 10 points at UC Riverside on January 19, adding four rebounds and a steal. Lazdauskas is averaging 3.9 points and 3.0 rebounds per game overall this season and is shooting .576 (34-59) from the field. Of his 64 rebounds this season and 24 are offensive. Lazdauskas scored a total of 15 points in the first 15 games of the year (10 of which he played in). In the past 11 games he's totaled 66 points.
Maurice Clady •Career-High 17 Points vs. CS Bakersfield Junior Maurice Clady has started at point guard the past seven games for the 49ers. At CS Bakersfield he had a career-high 17 points, adding four rebounds and two assists in 36 minutes of action. Wednesday vs. CS Northridge he had 14 points, four rebounds and six assists. On January 31 he came off the bench vs. CS Fullerton and scored a then career-high 13 points, adding five assists in 30 minutes. He was a perfect 3-3 from three-point range in the game. Over the past four games Clady is averaging 9.8 points and 2.5 assists per game. Clady has 29 assists (3.6 apg) in his last eight games. On the year he is averaging 4.4 points per game and he's second on the team with 61 assists. Clady is one of three 49ers with more assists (61) than turnovers (57) this season. He's also shooting .447 (17-38) from three-point range. In Big West games he averaging 5.2 points and 3.5 assists per game. He had a career-best seven assists in the 49ers win over LMU.
Brandon Johnson •14 Points In First Meeting vs. UC Davis Junior Brandon Johnson was in the starting lineup at UC Davis (2/7) and Pacific (2/9) and responded well. At UC Davis he played 21 minutes and finished with eight points and five rebounds, three on the offensive glass. At Pacific he had five points and two offensive rebounds. Johnson had a strong outing in the win over UC Davis on January 12 as he scored a career-high 14 points off the bench while grabbing five rebounds in 17 minutes. Johnson was 6-of-8 from the field and hit both of his free throw attempts. On the year he is averaging 4.4 points and 1.8 rebounds per game. Of his 45 total rebounds, 21 have been on the offensive glass and he is one of three players on the team with more assists (19) than turnovers (17).
Cornel Williams •Career-High 17 Points at UCSB Junior Cornel Williams has put up solid numbers this season for the 49ers. Saturday at New Mexico State he led the 49ers with his 10 points, adding four rebounds. On January 31 vs. CS Fullerton he had eight points, five rebounds and three assists. Williams had a career-high 17 points at UC Santa Barbara (1/3). He's averaging 6.8 points per game in Big West outings. Overall this season he's averaging 6.4 points and 3.9 rebounds per game. He grabbed a career-high 11 rebounds in the game against Bucknell and against Washington he had 10 points, five rebounds and three assists. He has hit double digits in scoring a total of seven times this season.
Brice Gallow •17 Points at CS Northridge Junior Brice Gallow has played well for the 49ers. He had started six games in a row before not starting on February 2 vs. UC Irvine. He sprained his left ankle that previous Thursday vs. CS Fullerton, but did play six minutes against the Anteaters. Saturday at New Mexico State he had four points, two rebounds and a career-high tying three assists. At CS Northridge (1/26) he had a career-high 17 points, adding five rebounds and two assists. In the home game against CS Bakersfield (1/23) he had 10 points, five rebounds and two assists. Gallow's previous high was an eight-point outing at UCSB on January 3. Gallow is currently averaging 2.7 points per game this year in 21 contests.
Brian Freeman •Six Double Figure Games This Year Junior Brian Freeman checks in at 5.7 points and 4.7 rebounds per game while shooting .523 (56-107) from the field. Last Wednesday vs. CS Northridge he had a big game off the bench, finishing with 12 points and three rebounds. It was his first double-figure scoring effort since December 5 vs. LMU. At UC Davis he had six points, four rebounds and two assists. In the home game against UC Irvine he had eight points and six rebounds in 22 minutes. Freeman has hit double digits in scoring six times this season, including a career-high 17 points and 10 rebounds in the home win over Loyola Marymount. Freeman hit double digits in four consecutive games at the beginning of the season (12 at Pepperdine, 10 at Washington, 11 at St. Louis, 17 vs. LMU). Freeman is third on the team with 53 assists this season and also is the team leader with 21 blocked shots. He had a season-high five blocks at UCSB.
Chris Peys •Career-High 24 Minutes At UC Davis Sophomore Chris Peys started at UC Davis (2/7) and played a career-high 24 minutes. Peys finished with one point, one rebound and a career-high two steals, but it wasn't his numbers that impressed. He played solid defense throughout, in a game where the 49ers limited the Aggies to just 15 first half points. Against UC Riverside he was also in the starting lineup and had two rebounds and one assist in 14 minutes.
Andrew Fleming •Career-High 11 Points & 8 Boards vs. BYU Sophomore Andrew Fleming picked up three rebounds in six minutes at Pacific on February 9. He was in the starting lineup when the 49ers hosted UC Riverside and finished with two points in 16 minutes of action. This past Wednesday vs. CS Northridge he started, finishing with two points and four rebounds in 14 minutes. He earned another start this past Saturday at New Mexico State, finishing with three offensive rebounds. Fleming is averaging 1.9 rebounds and 1.0 points per game this season, having appeared in 23 contests. In the opener, he had career-high's with his 11 points, eight rebounds and 24 minutes played against BYU.
Lauren Heard •Career-High 8 Points at NMSU Freshman Lauren Heard was going to redshirt this season, but decided to forgo his redshirt to help the 49ers out. On January 26 at CS Northridge, in his first game as a 49er, he had six points in 20 minutes of action. This past Saturday at New Mexico State he scored a career-high eight points, hitting two three-pointers. Heard played 12 minutes against the Aggies and picked up his first rebound as a 49er as well. Heard has played in six games this season and is averaging 2.3 points per game. Heard was an All-Moore League selection last season at Jordan High School in Long Beach.
