Highlanders Push Past Long Beach State With Second Half Run

Thursday, January 29

Riverside, Calif.

7 p.m.

Long Beach State University

8-14,4-6Big West

UC Riverside

8-14,3-7Big West

Long Beach St.

UC Riverside

1/29/2026 9:45:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

Isaiah Lewis led Long Beach State with 13 points off of the bench.

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

RIVERSIDE, Calif. – Long Beach State led at the half on the road at UC Riverside, but the Highlanders pulled away over the final ten minutes to hold off the Beach 71-61.

Long Beach State (8-14, 4-6 Big West) was without leading scorer Gavin Sykes due to injury, but the Beach responded well in the opening 20 minutes. The Beach got a lift with 11 points from Isaiah Lewis in the first, and Shaquil Bender got the Beach rolling with a few baskets early in his first start while replacing Sykes.

Down three with nine minutes to go in the first, Long Beach State went on the offensive with a 7-0 run to force a UC Riverside (8-14, 2-8 Big West) timeout to slow down the Beach. With the lead, Long Beach State found Shay Johnson Jr. for an alley-oop inside to put the Beach up five before a Ben Waller basket just before the half set the score at 34-31.

Long Beach State led by as many as six in the second half, but ultimately cold shooting and turnovers allowed UC Riverside back in the contest. The Beach didn't hit a three in the second half, and 16 turnovers led to 23 Highlander points.

The Highlanders took their first lead of the second half on an Anthony Henderson three, part of his game-high 19 with just under ten minutes to play, and would extend their lead to eight points down the stretch.

The Beach cut the lead to five in the final minute, but a key 3-pointer from Henderson helped seal the win for the Highlanders. For the Beach, Lewis led the Beach with 13 points, Bender added 12, and Petar Majstorovic had nine points, nine rebounds and two blocks.

The Beach will return home on Saturday, hosting Hawai'i at 1 p.m. in the LBS Financial Credit Union Pyramid. The game will be simulcast on Spectrum SportsNet and ESPN+.