Men's Basketball Returns To The Road At Portland

Wednesday, November 26

Portland, Ore.

7 p.m.

Long Beach State University

Portland

11/24/2025 4:30:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Game Notes - Portland

Long Beach State will face the Pilots for the third straight season.

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

See attachment for complete Long Beach State Game Notes.

Game:...................................... Long Beach State at Portland
Date:.................................. Wednesday, November 26, 2025
Time:............................................................................ 7 p.m.
Location:........................................................ Portland, Ore.
Arena:................................................. Chiles Center (4,852)
TV:.............................................................................. ESPN+
TV Talent:............................. Byran Sleik, Jennifer Mountain
Webcast:.................................................................... ESPN+
Radio:....................................................... portlandpilots.com
Live Stats:....................... beachlivestats.statbroadcast.com

RIGHT AWAY
• Non-conference play continues for Long Beach State as the Beach will take on Portland on the road on Wednesday night. Wednesday's game marks the third season in a row that the teams have played in the non-conference.

• Portland leads the all-time series 7-0, but the series has featured great games including a one-posession loss for the Beach last season. In total, the largest margin of victory in the seven games between the teams is just six points.

• Long Beach State is coming off hosting the Battle at the Beach. LBSU had their best performance of the season in a dominating win over Nobel 87-54. The Beach out-rebounded the Knights 46-27 and forced 21 turnovers and had seven players with 8 points or more in a balanced effort that saw no player on the court for more than 22 minutes. The Beach then fell in a tight game against Montana State, 78-72 as Gavin Sykes finished with a career-high 24 points.

• A true freshman Gavin Sykes has now scored 20 points or more on two occasions and is now leading Long Beach State in scoring at 12.8 points per game. He is one of three players averaging double-figures for the Beach, joining Petar Majstorovic and Shaquil Bender.

• Syracuse transfer Petar Majstorovic has been an early key for Long Beach State. The sophomore leads Long Beach State and rebounding and is averaging double figure scoring at 10.7 points and 7.3 rebounds per game. Majstorovic played a key rotation role as a true freshman for the Orangemen last season, and had a strong debut recording his first career double-double in his first game at Long Beach State with 13 points and 10 rebounds at San Diego State.

• Long Beach State for the second straight season faced a massive rebuild, bringing back just one player while adding 13. The team has a higher percentage of returning points, minutes and rebounds than last season despite having two fewer returners, as starting forward Derrick Michael Xzavierro renewed his commitment to the team as a starter.

NEWS AND NOTES
• Long Beach State hosted Illinois State in the team's home opener, and came up just short against the Redbirds in an 82-80 loss. Petar Majstorovic had 19 points and 7 rebounds while Shaquil Bender scored 18 off of the bench for the Beach.

• The Beach led for over 25 minutes of their last road game at Pacific and held the Tigers to 42.3 percent shooting, but Pacific rallied for a 69-66 win in Stockton. True freshman Gavin Sykes had his best game yet, scoring 20 points and adding seven rebounds against the Tigers.

• Acker returns for his second season at Long Beach State. The Beach, led by Honorable Mention All-Big West selection Devin Askew, had a strong December that saw the Beach grab road wins over San Diego and Pepperdine as well as Big West victories against Cal State Fullerton, but ultimately ended the season 7-25 overall.

• Long Beach State's staff remains intact from Acker's first year, with John Montgomery, Anthony Santos and Philip Scott as the assistant coaches supported by director of basketball operations Ali Tavakol and Jacob Eyman, the director of player relations.

• In addition to the opener against San Diego State, Long Beach State will play another marquee opponent, traveling to Iowa State to face the Cyclones for the first time in program history. Outside of that game and league play to Hawai'i, Long Beach State will remain in California, playing 16 home games and hosting a neutral contest as part of the Battle at the Beach in November, hosting Nobel and Montana State.

PLAYER NOTES
• Petar Majstorovic has been a key starter for Long Beach State in the front court this season. Opening the year with a double-double at San Diego State, Majstorovic has led Long Beach State in rebounding in all five of six games this season and is averaging 10.7 points per game after transferring from Syracuse. Majstorovic set a new career-high with 19 points against Illinois State, and had a career-high in rebounding with 10 in his double-double against the Aztecs.

• Born in Serbia, Majstorovic spent the majority of his life in France, and has played a mentorship role for another Frenchman in Leopold Levillain, a true freshman joining the Beach out of Montpellier. Levillain last played for the semipro club Cholet Basket, and averaged 9.8 points and 5.9 rebounds per game for the club's U21 team as a relatively new convert to basketball after originally playing rugby in France. Levillain had his first start against Fresno State, and set career highs in scoring in back-to-back games including 10 points against Nobel.

• True freshman Gavin Sykes had a breakthrough game against Pacific, scoring 20 points to lead Long Beach State, and after scoring 24 points against Montana State is now leading Long Beach State in scoring at 12.8 points per game. Sykes is also second on the team in rebounding at 4.3 boards per game. As a senior in high school, Sykes averaged over 20 points per game with Modesto Christian HS, and was one of the top guard recruits in the state of California.

• The other member of Long Beach State's freshman signing class, Dallas Washington was a top-rated recruit and has contributed early with the Beach, averaging 3.5 points and 1.8 rebounds per game as another key player in the Beach rotation. Washington was a four-star recruit, rated in the Top 100 nationally by ESPN.

• The top incoming scorer for Long Beach State is graduate transfer Shaquil Bender. Bender played two seasons of junior college basketball before joining Manhattan, where he starred for two seasons with the Jaspers. Bender averaged 11.2 points per game and made 63 assists while helping Manhattan with a 10-game turnaround after leading the team in scoring as a junior in 2023-24.Bender is now second on the team in scoring at 11.3 points per game after putting up 18 against Illinois State.

• Long Beach State added a pair of brothers in Isaiah and Immanuel Lewis, who will be playing on the same team for the first time since their days at Taft HS in Southern California. Isaiah joins the Beach from Division I Little Rock, where he averaged 9.4 points per game and made 99 assists, while Immanuel averaged 6.2 points per game with Nobel, and made his first appearance of the year against the Knights, scoring four points.

• Isaiah Lewis has been a key figure for the Beach in the early part of the season, third on the team in minutes played while starting every game this season at point guard. Lewis is fourth on the team at 7.5 points per game while making 16 assists on the year.

• The first Division I scholarship player from Indonesia, Derrick Michael Xzavierro is Long Beach State's lone returner, a junior with two years of eligibility remaining. He suffered a significant injury with a collapsed lung just before his first season, costing him his 2022-23 campaign and affecting his first competitve season with GCU, but "DMX" had a strong debut season for the Beach, leading LBSU in rebounding and blocked shots while starting 21 games with four double-doubles, ranking in the Top 5 in the Big West in rebounding last season.

• Another Division I transfer in Cole Farrell joined Long Beach State from Portland State. Farrell spent two seasons with the Vikings, and averaged 6.5 points per game while shooting 37.7% from three last year. Farrell has started each game so far for Long Beach State.

• Shay Johnson Jr. is very familiar with Acker, having spent three seasons with him as an assistant coach at San Diego State. The 6-10 senior will join the program after having primarily played as a backup with the Aztecs during a number of successful seasons. Johnson is averaging 12.6 minutes per game so far with the Beach and had a pair of blocks against Montana State.

• Rob Diaz III is another transfer, but one coming from Division II after two strong seasons at Cal Poly Humboldt. Diaz was the CCAA Freshman of the Year in 2023-24 after averaging 12.5 points per game, and then earned First Team All-CCAA honors after leading the Lumberjacks in scoring, averaging 16.0 points per game and shooting 36.5 percent from behind the arc. Diaz is averaging 5.5 points per game and has added 16 assists on the year.

• Long Beach State also added one junior college transfer in 6-4 guard Christian Jones. Jones spent last season at Angelina College in Texas, where he averaged 10.4 points and 4.1 rebounds per game while shooting 45.6 percent from three, going 28-7 overall and reaching the NJCAA national quarterfinals while leading the team in scoring. Jones is averaging 3.2 points and 1.5 rebounds for the Beach this season.

• Pulling from within the conference, Long Beach State also added forward JJ Chaikovsky, who redshirted last season at CSUN after playing nine games as a true freshman with NJIT in 2023-24. Chaikovsky made his first appearance for the Beach at Pacific, with a solid stretch in the front court against the Tigers.

THIS AND THAT
• November 19, 2025 was a significant day as Long Beach State entered into a naming rights agreement with LBS Financial Credit Union, changing the name of the home facility for LBSU to the LBS Financial Credit Union Pyramid. The agreement is set for $8.5 million over a 12-year period.

• Mike and Arline Walter, who originally named the Pyramid in 2004, when they made both a cash gift and a planned giving commitment to the University, have agreed to step away from the naming in the interest of clearing the way for a significant new investment in the Beach Athletics programs and its Division I student-athletes. The Walters plan to continue their support and partnership with the university.

• Long Beach State is now one win away from a program milestone, recording 1,100 wins following 75 years of Division I Men's Basketball in Long Beach.