Long Beach State University
CSUN
Beach Holds Off CSUN For Third Straight Victory
1/27/2018 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Box Score (PDF) | Box Score (HTML)
Northridge, Calif. - Long Beach State held off a late challenge from CSUN to come away from the Matadome with a 70-66 victory, the third straight win for the Beach. Gabe Levin led Long Beach State in scoring with 19 points, leading a balanced effort in scoring for the 49ers.
Long Beach State (12-12, 6-2 Big West) had 26 points off of the bench, and withstood both foul trouble from Temidayo Yussuf and a big night from the Matador's star senior, Tavrion Dawson to come away with the season sweep over CSUN (5-16, 2-5 Big West).
Deishuan Booker scored 12 points and led a good night of sharing the ball by the Beach, making six of the team's 19 assists on the evening. KJ Byers also finished in double-figures off of the bench, scoring 10 points with four rebounds and three assists.
The Beach led through most of the game, but it was close throughout, as Dawson and Micheal Warren combined for 26 points in the first half to help keep the Matadors within reach. LBSU would lead by as many as nine in the opening period, but the Matadors rallied to take a 36-35 lead before a Jordan Griffin jumper in the closing seconds of the half kept the Beach in front, 37-36.
Long Beach State turned up the defensive pressure in the second half. Two steals led to fast break baskets in the first 90 seconds, and that cushion held as the Beach never trailed in the second half.
A vicious putback by Byers would increase Long Beach State's lead to seven points with just under 10 minutes to play. That margin would grow to its largest with 2:37 to play, as a Booker jumper gave LBSU a 68-57 lead.
CSUN mounted a rally at that point, but Long Beach State got two clutch free throws from Levin to help seal the victory in the end and hold off the Matadors.
The Black and Blue Rivalry is up next for Long Beach State, as the Beach will host UC Irvine in the Walter Pyramid on Wednesday, January 31. Tipoff is scheduled for 7:30 p.m., and will be broadcast live on Fox Sports Prime Ticket.
