Long Beach State Falls In Closing Seconds At South Dakota State

Friday, November 8

Brookings, S.D.

8:15 p.m. CT

Long Beach State University

1-1,0-0Big West

South Dakota State

2-0,0-0Summit League

Long Beach St.

South Dakota St.

Long Beach State Falls In Closing Seconds At South Dakota State

11/8/2024 9:12:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score Box Score - South Dakota State

Devin Askew scored the go-ahead basket with 16 seconds remaining, but the Jackrabbits had one final answer.

By: Roger Kirk, Associate Athletics Director, Communications & Broadcast

BROOKINGS, S.D. – Long Beach State rallied from 13-points down in the second half to grab multiple leads, including in the final seconds, but South Dakota State had one more answer in the inaugural game of their remodeled arena in front of a sold out crowd, winning 80-79 in the first road game of the season for LBSU.

                Long Beach State (1-1) was led by outstanding guard play on the night as Devin Askew led Long Beach State with 27 points and 8 assists, TJ Wainwright scored 23 and freshman Kam Martin had 15, with all three hitting big shots down the stretch as the Beach pushed South Dakota State (2-0) to the limit.

                Down 13 points, Long Beach State chipped away in the second half, starting with a 12-4 run capped by a 3-pointer from Askew to cut the lead back to five points with just over eight minutes remaining.

                Cutting the edge to two multiple times over the next few minutes, Long Beach State finally pushed over the edge with deep three from Wainwright, taking a 71-70 lead, their first since the opening minutes of the game with 2:16 remaining.

                Trading leads back and forth over the next two minutes, Long Beach State beat the shot clock on a clutch shot from Devin Askew, taking a 79-77 lead with 16 seconds remaining. Oscar Cluff, who led South Dakota State in scoring on the night, was able to put back his own miss and was fouled, sinking the added free throw with 1.5 seconds remaining to hand the Jackrabbits the win.

                Cluff finished with 23 points as part of 44 points in the paint for South Dakota State, who also had 21 from Joe Sayler.

                The Beach got off to an early lead behind a quick look inside to Derrick Michael Xzavierro, and led 10-8 before a 7-0 spurt from SDSU gave the Jackrabbits a lead they wouldn't give up until the closing minutes. The Beach were hampered by early foul trouble, and trailed by seven at the half 37-30.

                Long Beach State had a strong shooting night overall, over 40% from three and were 24-of-27 from the line, nearly 90% while looking for the road win. Austin Johnson led the Beach with eight rebounds, while Cam Denson grabbed seven.

                The Beach will remain on the road, facing San Francisco on ESPN+ on Wednesday, November 13 at 7 p.m.