Saturday, December 31
Long Beach, Calif.
3 p.m.
Long Beach State University
6-8,0-2Big West
72
vs
73
UC Riverside
9-5,2-0Big West
1
2
F
UC Riverside
32
41
73
Long Beach St.
39
33
72
Photo by: ©John Fajardo Photography
Long Beach State Drops Heartbreaker in Final Seconds to UC Riverside
12/31/2022 6:08:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Joel Murray drops 20 points, while Lassina Traore records a double-double is the setback
Box Score (PDF) | Photo Gallery
LONG BEACH, Calif. – The back-and-forth game came down to the wire and Long Beach State found themselves on the wrong end of a 73-72 loss to UC Riverside on Saturday at the Walter Pyramid as the Highlanders sunk the game-winner with just 0.8 seconds left on the clock.
The Beach (6-8, 0-2 Big West) and the Highlanders (9-5, 2-0 Big West) matched each other possession for possession throughout the game as the conference foes battled each other through 11 ties and 10 lead changes over 40 minutes of action.
With 1:26 left on the clock, Tone Hunter put Long Beach State up 72-68, but UC Riverside would make it a two-point game (72-70) with less than a minute left to play on a layup by Zyon Pullin. Despite the Beach's efforts, the Highlanders' Jamal Hartwell II drained a three with 0.8 remaining. The Beach called a timeout and drew up a play, but were unable to make the halfcourt attempt as time expired.
Joel Murray led the way for Long Beach State with his fifth 20-point performance of the season as he connected on 9-of-19 field goals (47.4%)). He also added seven boards, two assists, and one steal.
Lassina Traore had another solid outing as he tallied his sixth double-double of the season with 15 points and 13 rebounds.
Aboubacar Traore finished with nine points and five boards, while Tone Hunter added eight points, four rebounds, and two assists for the Beach.
The contest went back-and-forth throughout, however each team managed to go on a few solid scoring runs. The Highlanders used a 7-0 run in the first half to take a 16-11 edge over Long Beach State. But the Beach were quick to counter and even the score up at 16-all on a jumper from AJ George. The Beach secured their first lead of the day at 9:43 as Lassina Traore's dunk put LBSU up 20-18. LBSU then used a 7-0 run of its own to take a 39-32 advantage over UC Riverside at halftime.
Long Beach State got things going out of the break with a dunk from Lassina Traore followed by a made free throw which gave the Beach their largest lead of the game (42-32) at 19:23. Despite holding a double-digit lead, the Beach were unable to stop the Highlanders from chipping away as the UCR eventually evened the game at 55-55. The Beach surged ahead once again on a steal from Jadon Jones which led to a dunk by Amari Stroud at 3:46, as LBSU led 68-65. From there, LBSU held a four-point (72-68) lead after Hunter's jumper in the paint, but UCR held the Beach scoreless for the final 1:26 of the game as the Highlanders knocked down five-straight points, including the game-winner from Hartwell, to put the game away.
Pullin led UC Riverside with 22 points, while Hartwell II added 12 points as did Flynn Cameron. Kyle Owens rounded out the Highlanders' double-figure scorers with 11 points. Pullin also led the team in rebounding with seven boards to go along with five assists, while Owens added two steals.
Long Beach State looks to get back on the winning track on Thursday, Jan. 5 when they travel to CSUN. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m. The game will be broadcast live on ESPN+.
LONG BEACH, Calif. – The back-and-forth game came down to the wire and Long Beach State found themselves on the wrong end of a 73-72 loss to UC Riverside on Saturday at the Walter Pyramid as the Highlanders sunk the game-winner with just 0.8 seconds left on the clock.
The Beach (6-8, 0-2 Big West) and the Highlanders (9-5, 2-0 Big West) matched each other possession for possession throughout the game as the conference foes battled each other through 11 ties and 10 lead changes over 40 minutes of action.
With 1:26 left on the clock, Tone Hunter put Long Beach State up 72-68, but UC Riverside would make it a two-point game (72-70) with less than a minute left to play on a layup by Zyon Pullin. Despite the Beach's efforts, the Highlanders' Jamal Hartwell II drained a three with 0.8 remaining. The Beach called a timeout and drew up a play, but were unable to make the halfcourt attempt as time expired.
Joel Murray led the way for Long Beach State with his fifth 20-point performance of the season as he connected on 9-of-19 field goals (47.4%)). He also added seven boards, two assists, and one steal.
Joel Murray with the steal and layup to put the Beach up 39-32! #GoBeach pic.twitter.com/p8SQDanysm
— LBSU Men's Basketball (@LBSUMBB) December 31, 2022
Lassina Traore had another solid outing as he tallied his sixth double-double of the season with 15 points and 13 rebounds.
Aboubacar Traore finished with nine points and five boards, while Tone Hunter added eight points, four rebounds, and two assists for the Beach.
The contest went back-and-forth throughout, however each team managed to go on a few solid scoring runs. The Highlanders used a 7-0 run in the first half to take a 16-11 edge over Long Beach State. But the Beach were quick to counter and even the score up at 16-all on a jumper from AJ George. The Beach secured their first lead of the day at 9:43 as Lassina Traore's dunk put LBSU up 20-18. LBSU then used a 7-0 run of its own to take a 39-32 advantage over UC Riverside at halftime.
Lassina has been ROCKING the rim #GoBeach pic.twitter.com/N3LPQG2ibY
— LBSU Men's Basketball (@LBSUMBB) January 1, 2023
Long Beach State got things going out of the break with a dunk from Lassina Traore followed by a made free throw which gave the Beach their largest lead of the game (42-32) at 19:23. Despite holding a double-digit lead, the Beach were unable to stop the Highlanders from chipping away as the UCR eventually evened the game at 55-55. The Beach surged ahead once again on a steal from Jadon Jones which led to a dunk by Amari Stroud at 3:46, as LBSU led 68-65. From there, LBSU held a four-point (72-68) lead after Hunter's jumper in the paint, but UCR held the Beach scoreless for the final 1:26 of the game as the Highlanders knocked down five-straight points, including the game-winner from Hartwell, to put the game away.
Pullin led UC Riverside with 22 points, while Hartwell II added 12 points as did Flynn Cameron. Kyle Owens rounded out the Highlanders' double-figure scorers with 11 points. Pullin also led the team in rebounding with seven boards to go along with five assists, while Owens added two steals.
Long Beach State looks to get back on the winning track on Thursday, Jan. 5 when they travel to CSUN. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m. The game will be broadcast live on ESPN+.
Team Stats
UCR
LBSU
FG%
.441
.435
3FG%
.333
.182
FT%
.722
.588
RB
36
44
TO
11
8
STL
4
4
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
20
FGM
9
3FGM
0
FTM
2
Pts
15
FGM
7
3FGM
0
FTM
1
Pts
9
FGM
3
3FGM
1
FTM
2
Pts
8
FGM
4
3FGM
0
FTM
0
Players Mentioned
Guard
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