Wednesday, February 20
Long Beach, Calif.
7:00 P.M.
Long Beach State University
10-18, 4-8BWC
80
vs
78
CSUN
10-17, 4-7BWC
1
2
F
CSUN
42
36
78
Long Beach State
31
49
80
Photo by: Alex Honeycutt
Beach Rallies From 16 Down For 80-78 Win Over CSUN
2/20/2019 10:26:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Deishuan Booker’s free throws in the last second sealed the comeback win for the Beach.
LONG BEACH, Calif. – It wasn't always pretty, even in the comeback, but Long Beach State's determination carried the day in a thrilling 80-78 comeback win over CSUN on Wednesday night in the Walter Pyramid.
Down by as many as 16 in the second half, Long Beach State (10-18, 4-8 Big West) battled back and took their largest lead of the game in the final second, as Booker was fouled with .8 second on a three-point attempt.
A 90% foul shooter on the year, Booker calmly drained all three shots to put the Beach on top by two and the final heave from CSUN (10-17, 4-7 Big West) came to nothing in the end.
With CSUN leading by 11 at halftime, Darius Brown II completed a three-point play on the opening possession of the second half and then hit a jumper to put the Matadors up 16. Still up by that margin as the clock ticked under 13 minutes, the comeback was on for Long Beach State.
Freshman Demetrius Mims threw down a putback dunk, and cut the lead to 12 with a lay-in minutes later. Bryan Alberts had hit two threes in the first half, but the senior really started to heat up at that point. First hitting a triple to cut the lead to single digits at 59-50, Alberts canned two straight on back-to-back possessions to make the score 63-58, and then a Drew Cobb layup cut the lead to three at 63-60.
Battling down the stretch, Long Beach State got their closest yet at 73-71 after a pair of free throws from Booker, but after a free throw and a basket from Brown II CSUN led by five with a minute to play.
Jordan Roberts made two free throws to get it back to a single possession lead, and Cameron Gottfried missed the front end of a one-and-one to give the Beach a chance. Racing down the floor, Booker went for the layup to cut the lead to one at 76-75 with nine seconds left.
Long Beach State elected for the quick foul, sending Terrell Gomez to the line for two shots, and the sophomore made both. CSUN then returned the favor with a foul to avoid the three-point attempt, putting Booker at the line where he made a pair.
Fouling Gomez once more with five seconds left worked out in Long Beach State's favor, as Gomez missed the front end and Roberts got a quick outlet to Booker, who was fouled on his game-winning attempt, setting up the clinching free throws for the senior.
Booker finished the night 9-for-9 from the line with 20 points in total, making four assists. The senior is now just one of three players in Big West history to make over 200 free throws in one season. Alberts also finished with 20 points, making six 3-pointers, while Cobb had 13 rebounds, eight points and four assists with no turnovers. Roberts was Long Beach State's third player in double-figures, scoring 15 in his return to the starting lineup.
The final two road games of the season are next for Long Beach State, as LBSU travels to UC Riverside this Saturday, February 23 before heading up to UC Santa Barbara. The Beach then closes out the regular season in the Walter Pyramid against Cal Poly and UC Riverside.
Down by as many as 16 in the second half, Long Beach State (10-18, 4-8 Big West) battled back and took their largest lead of the game in the final second, as Booker was fouled with .8 second on a three-point attempt.
A 90% foul shooter on the year, Booker calmly drained all three shots to put the Beach on top by two and the final heave from CSUN (10-17, 4-7 Big West) came to nothing in the end.
FINAL: Deishuan Booker (20pts, 9-9 FT) knocks down 5 FT in the final 5 sec as @LBSUhoops edge CSUN, 80-78!
— #BigWestMBB (@BigWestMBB) February 21, 2019
Booker 4 away from the top of the all-time BWC single-season FTM list.
Bryan Alberts 20pts (6-13 3FG)
Drew Cobb 8pts-13rb-4ast#GoBeach at #UCRiverside Sat, 5PT. #PlayBig pic.twitter.com/70Mjq7gvwr
With CSUN leading by 11 at halftime, Darius Brown II completed a three-point play on the opening possession of the second half and then hit a jumper to put the Matadors up 16. Still up by that margin as the clock ticked under 13 minutes, the comeback was on for Long Beach State.
Freshman Demetrius Mims threw down a putback dunk, and cut the lead to 12 with a lay-in minutes later. Bryan Alberts had hit two threes in the first half, but the senior really started to heat up at that point. First hitting a triple to cut the lead to single digits at 59-50, Alberts canned two straight on back-to-back possessions to make the score 63-58, and then a Drew Cobb layup cut the lead to three at 63-60.
HEAT CHECK GOOD FROM ALBERTS! BA with 20 points now and the Beach has cut the lead to 63-60! #GoBeach pic.twitter.com/XfG8GTOzkZ
— LBSU Mens Basketball (@LBSUhoops) February 21, 2019
Battling down the stretch, Long Beach State got their closest yet at 73-71 after a pair of free throws from Booker, but after a free throw and a basket from Brown II CSUN led by five with a minute to play.
Jordan Roberts made two free throws to get it back to a single possession lead, and Cameron Gottfried missed the front end of a one-and-one to give the Beach a chance. Racing down the floor, Booker went for the layup to cut the lead to one at 76-75 with nine seconds left.
Long Beach State elected for the quick foul, sending Terrell Gomez to the line for two shots, and the sophomore made both. CSUN then returned the favor with a foul to avoid the three-point attempt, putting Booker at the line where he made a pair.
Fouling Gomez once more with five seconds left worked out in Long Beach State's favor, as Gomez missed the front end and Roberts got a quick outlet to Booker, who was fouled on his game-winning attempt, setting up the clinching free throws for the senior.
Booker finished the night 9-for-9 from the line with 20 points in total, making four assists. The senior is now just one of three players in Big West history to make over 200 free throws in one season. Alberts also finished with 20 points, making six 3-pointers, while Cobb had 13 rebounds, eight points and four assists with no turnovers. Roberts was Long Beach State's third player in double-figures, scoring 15 in his return to the starting lineup.
The final two road games of the season are next for Long Beach State, as LBSU travels to UC Riverside this Saturday, February 23 before heading up to UC Santa Barbara. The Beach then closes out the regular season in the Walter Pyramid against Cal Poly and UC Riverside.
Team Stats
CSUN
LBSU
FG%
.500
.358
3FG%
.368
.321
FT%
.765
.765
RB
41
45
TO
19
11
STL
6
7
Game Leaders
Pts
20
FGM
7
3FGM
6
FTM
0
Pts
20
FGM
5
3FGM
1
FTM
9
Pts
15
FGM
6
3FGM
0
FTM
3
Players Mentioned
Guard
/ Men's BasketballGuard
/ Men's Basketball
Guard/Forward
/ Men's BasketballGuard/Forward
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