Long Beach State University
UC Irvine
Beach Falls In Black And Blue Rivalry 75-68
1/31/2018 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Box Score (PDF) | Box Score (HTML)
Long Beach, Calif. - Long Beach State got off to a strong start, but faltered late as UC Irvine rallied to grab a 75-68 win over LBSU Wednesday night in the Walter Pyramid.
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Long Beach State (12-13, 6-3 Big West) led for nearly 30 minutes of the contest, but ultimately did not come up with the defensive stops they needed despite 19 points from Gabe Levin, 17 coming the second half.
For UC Irvine (10-14, 5-3 Big West), Evan Leonard scored 30 points on 9-12 shooting to lead the way in a game that saw neither side lead by more than eight points.
Tied at 58-58 with 6:31 remaining, the Anteaters pulled ahead on a layup from Evan Leonard, but Long Beach State answered with a 3-pointer from Gabe Levin and a steal and breakaway dunk from KJ Byers.
Leonard stole back the momentum with a three-pointer for UCI, and the Anteaters scored four more in a 7-0 run to take a 67-63 lead with 2:13 to play. Up six with 31 seconds, Long Beach State charged down the floor and cut it to one possession on a Bryan Alberts three, but Leonard made four consecutive free throws to close out the win.
Long Beach State had control of the game early despite a pair of quick fouls for both Levin and Jordan Roberts. Deishuan Booker had eight points and Edon Maxhuni added six in the first as the Beach pushed out to an eight-point lead in the opening half. LBSU held UC Irvine to just 28 points in the first half and led by three.
In the end, UC Irvine controlled the rebounding battle 42 to 28 and LBSU had an uncharacteristically poor shooting game from the free throw line, going 14-for-26 after coming into the game second in the Big West at 73.1 percent.
The Beach will have to bounce back on Saturday, getting another chance at home by hosting UC Davis at 4 p.m. on Saturday. Live coverage of that game can be found on ESPN3 and on AM 830.
