Long Beach State University Athletics
Long Beach State University
2-10
Texas
5-4
Road Effort Comes Up Just Short At Texas
12/10/2016 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
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Austin, Texas - Evan Payne tied the Long Beach State single-game record for made 3-pointers with eight, leading the Beach with 26 points, but the effort from the junior wasn't quite enough as the Longhorns pulled away in the second half and escaped with a 71-65 win.
Long Beach State (2-10) led for over 27 minutes of the contest and ended up out-rebounding the Longhorns by seven, but 16 second-half points from Texas (5-4) star Tevin Mack helped push the Longhorns past the Beach.
"I'm disappointed. We play this schedule to get better, and I think we got better today, but this team needs to reward themselves with some wins," said Dan Monson. "If we get a team out of sync, we need to take advantage of it. We let [Texas] hang around in the second half, and when we got tired, let them into the paint too much. They're a good basketball team, and they capitalized on it."
Saturday's game featured one of the best starts of the season for Long Beach State. The first three of the night from Payne gave Long Beach State a 7-5 lead, and threes from Justin Bibbins and Payne would put the 49ers out in front for good in the first half.
Texas cut the lead to two points at 24-22, but a pair of free throws from Prince and back-to-back threes from Payne expanded the lead, one that would reach 11 points on a layup by Gabe Levin at 34-23 with just over 90 seconds left in the half.
The Longhorns answered with a 3-pointer of their own, and would have cut the lead to four at the half except for a spectacular block from Levin on a breakaway by Jacob Young. Instead, the Beach led the game at the break 34-28.
Two quick threes by Payne in the start of the second half expanded the lead to 12 points, the largest of the night for either team with 17:52 to play.
Texas would chip away at the lead, pulling to within two at 44-42 on a Mack layup, and took the first lead of the second half at 47-46 with 10:40 to play. Noah Blackwell answered with a corner three, and the teams would trade leads until a Mack jumper at 56-54 as the clock ticked under eight.
Eric Davis Jr., would score five straight points to push the Longhorn edge to seven points. Long Beach State scrambled down the stretch, getting a tip-in from Levin and a three from Blackwell bookending one made free throw from Texas to pull within four at 69-65 with 21 seconds left, but Payne's final effort of the game didn't connect and Texas held on to win.
Payne was the only 49er in double-figure figures with a season-high 26 points, while Bibbins finished with nine points and seven assists with three steals. Gabe Levin was the team's leading rebounder with six and eight points, though six 49ers finished with four or more on the night, leading to the 41-34 edge in rebounding for the Beach on the evening.
Long Beach State will have a well-deserved break from action, and won't play again until next Friday, December 16. The Beach heads up to Portland to face Oregon State in the Dam City Classic at the Moda Center, home of the Portland Trailblazers.
