Beach Frustrated in Narrow Loss at Stanford

Saturday, December 29

Stanford, Calif.

7:30 P.M.

Long Beach State University

5-10

Stanford

7-5

Long Beach St.

Stanford

Photo by: John Fajardo

12/29/2018 11:19:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score Box Score (PDF)

Long Beach State had a shot to tie the game after a tremendous late comeback but, despite appeals from the LBSU bench, did not get a foul called as the shot attempt fell short in an eventual 93-86 loss at Stanford.

By: Tyler Hendrickson, Associate Athletic Communications Director

STANFORD, Calif. -- For the fourth time this season, Long Beach State (5-10) had a Pac-12 opponent on the ropes, but the Beach suffered a frustrating 93-86 loss to Stanford (7-5) on Saturday night at Maples Pavilion. Long Beach had a shot to tie the game with less than 10 seconds on the clock, as Jordan Griffin's three-point attempt came up well short. The Beach bench immediately yelled for a foul call, but there was no whistle on the play, and head coach Dan Monson was eventually ejected for arguing the call with under two seconds on the clock.

Despite the disappointing finish, there were some impressive numbers from Long Beach State's offense. Senior Bryan Alberts led the Beach in scoring with a season-best 22 points, matching his career high with six made three-pointers on 13 attempts. Alberts also matched his career high with six rebounds. Deishuan Booker added 20 points and a season-high eight assists with just two turnovers. It's the first time two Beach players have scored 20 points in the same game since Booker and Gabe Levin each had 22 on Mar. 8, 2018 against Cal State Fullerton.

LBSU racked up a season-high 17 assists, but struggled on the glass as Stanford held a 45-33 advantage in the rebound department. Temidayo Yussuf dealt with some foul trouble but again approached a double-double with 13 points and a team-best eight rebounds.

The Beach played well in the first half, leading 19-14 on a Booker triple with 10:10 until the break, finishing off a 7-0 run. Stanford would go to the break with a 37-36 advantage, however, thanks in part to an immediate 9-0 run. KJ Byers would score the last eight points for the Beach in the opening half to help keep things close.

Over the final 20 minutes, it looked like Stanford had pulled away, leading 82-70 with under three minutes to play. But LBSU wouldn't go quietly, getting an immediate three from Alberts to kick off a 14-4 run. That stretch included a pair of buckets from Yussuf, another triple from Alberts, and a big three from Griffin with 56 seconds to play to make it an 86-84 Stanford lead. The Beach got the look to tie in the closing seconds, but the no-call on his field goal try was the decisive moment that ended the comeback attempt.

Stanford struggled at the free-throw line, going just 7/21 (33.3%) for the game to help LBSU get back in the game. Long Beach State was 9/22 (40.9%) from beyond the arc and a solid 17/22 (77.3%) at the charity stripe.

That concludes LBSU's non-conference road schedule as Big West play looms in two weeks. Next up, Long Beach State returns home for a matchup with Bethesda at 7 p.m. next Saturday, Jan. 5.