Beach Comes Up Short In Overtime Loss At Cal State Fullerton

Saturday, January 9

Fullerton, Calif.

5 p.m.

Long Beach State University

3-4,2-2Big West

Cal State Fullerton

2-3,1-3Big West

OT 1

Long Beach St.

Cal St. Fullerton

Photo by: John Fajardo

Beach Comes Up Short In Overtime Loss At Cal State Fullerton

1/9/2021 8:32:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score Box Score (PDF)

Freshman Jadon Jones led the team with a career-high 17 points.

By: Roger Kirk, Assistant Athletics Director, Athletic Communications

FULLERTON, Calif. – A strong defensive start staked Long Beach State to another halftime lead at Cal State Fullerton, but on Saturday the Titans had just enough to push over the top, felling the Beach 75-72 in overtime.

                Jadon Jones led the way for Long Beach State (3-4, 2-2 Big West) with a new career-high of 17 points, scoring 14 points in the first half as the Beach opened up a considerable lead behind strong defense. The Beach held Cal State Fullerton (2-3, 1-3 Big West) off of the scoreboard for the first five minutes to take a 9-0 lead.

                LBSU would eventually push their lead to 15 points at 33-18 in the closing minutes of the half, and led 33-21 at the half. In a mirror image of the start of the game however, the Titans went on a 19-0 run to start the second half before a Trever Irish jumper got the Beach on the board and snapped the run at 40-35.

                Falling behind by as many as 11 at 52-41 with just over 11 minutes left, Long Beach State fought back. Rolling the dice by putting Joe Hampton, who had played just a few minutes with major foul trouble, back in with four fouls, the Beach went on a run. A three from Hampton brought the lead back to six at 52-46, and two threes from Shaden Knight helpd cut the edge back to two at 56-54.

                Down 62-60, a three-point play from Isaiah Washington gave Long Beach State back the lead with 2:23 in regulation, and the Titans answered with a three-pointer from Landis Spivey to move back in front. An Irish layup tied the game in the final minute at 65-65. The Beach then had the final possession, but a baseline layup from Chance Hunter was too strong and the putback from Irish was just after the buzzer to send the game to overtime.

                The critical shot in overtime came from Tray Maddox Junior, whose layup gave the Titans a six-point lead with 1:08 to play. Hunter cut the edge in half with a three, but Josh Hall, who had missed three straight free throws, made a final one to put the edge back to two possessions. That was key as a Jones three cut the edge to one point in the closing seconds, but the Titans closed out the win 75-72 at the free throw line.

                In addition to Jones, RJ Rhoden also had a career-high 12 points, while Isaiah Washington chipped in 16 points with nine assists. Irish had a career-high 12 rebounds to go with two blocks and six points.

                Long Beach State returns to the Walter Pyramid next weekend, hosting CSUN on January 15 and 16. Both games are scheduled to tip off at 4 p.m. on ESPN3.