Beach Basketball Wins Fifth Straight On Senior Night

Wednesday, March 6

Long Beach, Calif.

7:00 P.M.

Long Beach State University

14-18, 8-8BWC

UC Riverside

9-22, 3-12BWC

UC Riverside

Long Beach State

3/6/2019 10:21:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score Box Score - UC Riverside Photo Gallery

Long Beach State closed out the regular season with a fifth consecutive win.

By: Roger Kirk, Assistant Athletics Director, Athletic Communications

LONG BEACH, Calif. – Big smiles all around for fans and the team Wednesday as Long Beach State pulled away in the second half for a comfortable 70-57 win over UC Riverside on Senior Night. The victory extended Long Beach State's winning streak to five games entering the Big West Tournament.

                Prior to the game, Long Beach State (14-18, 9-22 Big West) honored Breamon Richard, Bryan Alberts, Deishuan Booker, Mason Riggins and Temidayo Yussuf and started that group of seniors. UC Riverside (9-22, 3-12 Big West) had their own plans and hit two quick threes to take the lead over the Beach.

                Long Beach State chipped away, and back-to-back threes from Booker tied the game for the first time at 21, and then Riggins hit a hard leaner to give the Beach the lead.

                Coming off of the bench, sophomore Edon Maxhuni gave the LBSU faithful a taste of what was to come in the second half, scoring seven points in the final two minutes of the first to put the Beach on top by five, 30-25.

                Another hot streak for UCR threatened to spoil the day, as the Highlanders hit three straight threes to open the second half and quickly erase the Long Beach State lead. The Highlanders would open up a five-point edge at 41-36, but Long Beach State would respond with a 25-4 run that for all intents and purposes put away the game.

                Maxhuni, who tied his career-high with 21 points, knocked down his fifth 3-pointer of the game to push the lead to 17, and Long Beach State was able to bring out their seniors for ovations in the final minutes.

Edon Maxhuni feeling it! E with his fifth three of the night has the Beach rolling. LBSU closing in on a senior night win over UCR. #GoBeach pic.twitter.com/s6n0FVudZj
— LBSU Mens Basketball (@LBSUhoops) March 7, 2019

Booker shared in the team lead with 21 points as well, while Yussuf finished one point shy of a double-double with 11 rebounds and 9 points.

Long Beach State will have this Saturday off as the rest of the Big West finishes the regular season, and will find out their opponent for the quarterfinals of the Big West Tournament at that time. What we do know is that Long Beach State will play on Thursday, March 14 in the Honda Center. Follow @LBSUHoops on Twitter or check back at www.longbeachstate.com for the latest information.