Long Beach State University Athletics
Long Beach State University
10-9, 5-2BWC
Cal State Fullerton
10-10, 4-4BWC
Beach men lose on last second shot
1/29/2009 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Jan. 29, 2009
LONG BEACH, Calif. - Josh Akognon hit the game winning shot with 3.9 seconds to play to lead Cal State Fullerton to a 61-60 Big West Conference win over Long Beach State in front of a sellout crowd of 4,263 at the Walter Pyramid Thursday night.
Akognon finished with a game-high 31 points.
It was nearly Stephan Gilling who was the hero. Gilling nailed a 3-pointer with 17.4 seconds to play to push LBSU (10-9, 5-2 Big West) to a 60-59 lead, which set up Akognon's shot. Gilling finished with a team-high 15 points.
Donovan Morris added 10 points, and freshman T.J. Robinson had nine points and a career-high 15 rebounds. Freshman Casper Ware added seven points and five assists for The Beach.
LBSU built an eight-point halftime lead with stingy defense and well executed offense. The Beach held the Titans (10-10, 4-4 Big West) to just 29.4 percent shooting, including 3-of-11 by the Big West's leading scorer Akognon, while making 10-of-20 shots that the 49ers took inside the 3-point line.
Long Beach State's heralded freshman class got the 49ers off to a quick start scoring the team's first 12 points. Robinson led the group with six points and a team-high nine boards, one shy of his career game-high, in the first 20 minutes. Larry Anderson added six points and two assists and Ware had five points.
LBSU outrebounded CSF 21-20 in the first half, while holding the Titans to 3-of-15 (20 percent) shooting from the free throw line. The Titans finished with a 38-36 rebounding advantage. Long Beach State connected on just 5-of-17 (29.4 percent) shots from 3-point range.
