Long Beach State University Athletics
Long Beach State University
6-7
Duke
10-1
Slow start dooms The Beach at Duke
12/29/2009 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Dec. 29, 2009
DURHAM, N.C> - A bad first half doomed Long Beach State at Duke Tuesday night. The Beach fell behind by as many as 26 before the break, thanks to hot shooting and tenacious defense by the Blue Devils, and never could catch up losing 84-63 at Cameron Indoor Stadium.
The Beach didn't go quietly in the second half. LBSU cut the lead to 14 with 9:41 to play forcing Duke to call a timeout. The 49ers pulled within 13 after the Blue Devils' timeout twice before the media timeout that came at 7:37, the first time on a 3-pointer by Larry Anderson and then again on a basket by senior Andrew Fleming.
Jon Scheyer squashed the 49ers momentum coming out of the media timeout. He nailed a pair of threes in a minute and a half to help Duke push the lead back to 19.
"I was proud in the second half," Long Beach State coach Dan Monson said. "I thought our guys could have caved in but they showed we have been in these games and have some fight to them. We were just outmanned, they climbed into us, our bigs aren't big enough for this level. We can't finish over their size."
Duke's outside onslaught turned out to be the difference in the game. The Blue Devils made 15-of-26 from 3-point range with Scheyer leading the way with six treys. Nolan Smith added four from behind the arc, including three in the second half that helped keep the 49ers from cutting the lead closer than 13, and Kyle Singler added three from 3-point range, all in the decisive first half.
Scheyer led the Devils with 22 points and seven assists, Smith added 19 points and seven assists and Singular had 14 points and nine boards. Brian Zoubek finished with a double-double for Duke with 10 points and 12 rebounds.
Larry Anderson paced LBSU with 14 points, while Greg Plater scored 13 and T.J. Robinson had 10 points and nine boards.
Duke (10-1) dominated the first half taking a 20-point lead into the break. The Blue Devils made 9-of-15 threes, including three each from Singler and Scheyer. Duke led by as many as 26 with 3:55 to play in the half before Long Beach State shaved six points off the lead in the last three minutes. Duke struggled from the free throw line, making just 2-of-8 from the stripe, helping Long Beach State stay within 20.
The Beach (6-7) struggled making just 29.4 percent (10-of-34) of its shot in the first half and was 3-of-9 from three. Duke blocked seven LBSU shots in the first half (10 in the game) to contribute to the 49ers poor shooting. LBSU finished making 36.1 percent from the field, including a respectable 44.4 percent in the second half.
