Hampton, Murray Lead Long Beach State Past Wright State To Close Naples Invitational

Wednesday, November 24

Naples, Fla.

9 a.m. PT

Long Beach State University

2-4,0-0Big West

Wright State

1-5,0-0Horizon

Long Beach St.

Wright St.

Photo by: John Fajardo

Hampton, Murray Lead Long Beach State Past Wright State To Close Naples Invitational

11/24/2021 12:15:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score Wright State - Box Score

Joe Hampton put up 22 and 10 while Joel Murray scored 21 for the Beach.

By: Roger Kirk, Assistant Athletics Director, Athletic Communications

NAPLES, Fla. – Joe Hampton recorded his first career double-double, putting up 22 points with 10 rebounds as Long Beach State controlled their final game of the Naples Invitational, an 85-76 win over Wright State.

                Long Beach State (2-4) controlled the paint, scoring 40 points inside and got a lift from a shuffled lineup, as Hampton came off the bench and gave the Beach key minutes along with a career-high in scoring. Junior Joel Murray also hit 20 points for the third time this season, scoring 21 points while dishing out five assists.

                The Beach jumped out to an early lead at 10-4, and controlled much of the pace and action in the first half with a strong defensive effort. Wright State (1-5) was able to take the lead at 22-20 with just over six minutes left, but the Beach responded with an 11-1 run with a Drew Cobb 3-pointer in the center of it to establish control heading into halftime on top 34-28.

                Wright State would grab momentum out of the second half, as forward Grant Basile, who spent much of the first half on the bench with foul trouble, got most of his 21 points in the first 10 minutes of the second half as the Raiders would take a seven-point lead at 55-48.

                The Beach would clamp down defensively once more, though, going on a 15-2 run as Jadon Jones started to heat up, hitting two straight threes. Another key 3-pointer came from Colin Slater to answer a triple from Wright State to extend the lead to 65-59, and Long Beach State would never lead by less than three the rest of the way.

                Slater finished with 13 while Jones added 11 to pace four LBSU players in double-figures, while Jones added a career high three blocks as well.

                Long Beach State will get the holiday weekend off, then take on a road test against San Diego State on Tuesday, November 30. The Beach will then return home to host Loyola Marymount at 4 p.m. on Saturday, December 4.