Men’s Basketball Falls Just Short At Pacific 69-66

Wednesday, November 12

Stockton, Calif.

7 p.m.

Long Beach State University

0-3,0-0Big West

Pacific

2-1,0-0WCC

Long Beach St.

Pacific

11/12/2025 9:51:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

Freshman Gavin Sykes with 20 points led Long Beach State.

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

STOCKTON, Calif. – A lockdown defensive effort in the first half and a strong night from freshman Gavin Sykes gave Long Beach State an opportunity on the road, but Pacific was able to hold off as a final effort from Sykes in the closing seconds missed in a 69-66 defeat in the road.

Long Beach State (0-3) led for over 25 minutes in the contest on the road against Pacific (2-1) as the Beach got off to a great start defensively. Holding the Tigers to just ten points over the first ten minutes, Shaquil Bender caught a hot streak as Long Beach State built a lead, as Bender scored eight straight to kick off an 11-1 run to take a 21-11 lead, and the Beach remained on top 30-25 at halftime behind 11 first half points from the Manhattan transfer.

A Sykes 3-pointer put Long Beach State back up by 11 early in the second half, and the Beach would maintain a double-digit lead with just over 12 minutes remaining the second half. A three-point play from Isaiah Lewis kept the Beach on top by six at 54-48, but an ice-cold stretch for Long Beach State followed to bring the Tigers back into the game. Not scoring for nearly five minutes allowed the Tigers to go on a 10-0 run and pull in front 58-54 with just over four minutes remaining.

Battling back, Long Beach State tied the game at 58-58, but a crucial offensive rebound for Pacific on a missed second free throw led to a three from Kajus Kublickas to give the Tigers their largest lead of the game.

Answering back with a four-point play from Sykes, Long Beach State got a steal and a basket in the closing minutes to give themselves a chance, but a final try from Sykes in the corner to send the game into overtime missed and Pacific held on for the win.

Skyes scored in double-figures for the second straight game, becoming the first player on the current team to score 20 points in the young season. Lewis added 14 and Bender finished with 13 on the night. Sykes also added seven rebounds, sharing the lead with Petar Majstorovic who added six points and four steals.

After three games on the road, Long Beach State now returns to the Walter Pyramid for their home opener, hosting Illinois State on ESPN+ Sunday, November 16 at 4 p.m.