Long Beach State University Athletics
Long Beach State University
8-10, 2-1BWC
UC Irvine
3-014-5. BWC
Beach Falls 58-54 In Bruiser With UC Irvine
1/14/2016 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
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Long Beach, Calif. - The game lived up to its nickname, as the Black and Blue Rivalry opened up the 2015-16 chapter with a physical 58-54 loss for Long Beach State against UC Irvine.
Neither team shot over 33 percent for the night and the game featured 45 total fouls between the teams, as it turned out to be a grueling 40 minutes with seven lead changes.
Long Beach State (8-10, 2-1 Big West) ended up out-rebounding the much larger UC Irvine (14-5, 3-0 Big West) squad 49-42, the top rebounding effort for the Beach on the season, and held the Anteaters to 32.2 percent shooting. The 49ers were undone by 24.6 percent shooting on the offensive end however, with only Nick Faust finishing in double-digit scoring.
Faust ended the game with 19 points to lead all scorers and had his second double-double with 11 rebounds, but the Anteaters erased an eight-point halftime lead for the Beach on the way to the win.
"It was encouraging how hard we fought, and how we rebounded against a team of that size, and to hold them to 32 percent shooting; 58 points," said Dan Monson. "But at the end of the day this is Division I basketball, and at Long Beach State we expect to win at home. We didn't get it done today."
Both teams struggled to score early, and UC Irvine held an 8-7 lead after the first eight minutes. A Travis Hammonds layup put Long Beach State on top in the next possession, and then 3-pointers from Noah Blackwell Faust sparked a 10-0 run for Long Beach State as the Beach opened up a lead.
The Long Beach State edge would grow to 13 at 25-12, and the 49ers led 29-21 at the half, but UC Irvine chipped away at the LBSU lead. Tying the game at 36-36, the Anteaters took their first lead of the second half at 40-39 with 9:58 remaining, and took a five-point lead at 49-44 on a jumper from Ioannis Dimakoupoulous.
Long Beach State answered, holding UCI at 49 points for the next five minutes to pull even at 49-49, but a Mike Best jumped kept UC Irvine in the lead heading into the final two minutes of the game.
Down five with 51 seconds, Branford Jones hit a runner to cut the lead to a single possession, and then a 3-pointer from Hammonds kept the Beach within reach after a pair of UCI free throws. After a foul, Alex Young missed a pair of free throws to give Long Beach State a chance with the ball down two with 15 seconds to play, but on the ensuing possession, Blackwell stepped on the baseline and the 19th turnover of the game for Long Beach State was the dagger as UC Irvine held on 58-54.
Long Beach State will hit the road for three conference games in the coming weeks, starting with a trip to Cal Poly on Saturday. Tipoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. in the Mott Athletics Center.
