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sports:
men's basketball
49ers topple undermanned
Highlanders
By Phil Witte
On-line Forty-Niner
When non-conference
games come near the end of a season, they can be an indicator
of a team's form before the post-season, as was Long Beach
State's 78-52 thrashing of UC Riverside last Wednesday night
in front of 1,916 at The Pyramid.
LBSU (17-12 overall,
9-6 Big West Conference) still has a chance for a second consecutive
20-win season, a feat it has not accomplished in nearly three
decades.
Only one team is
likely to advance to the NCAA's from the Big West Tournament,
but a win in Sunday's finale against Pacific and a trip to
the conference tournament final would give the 49ers 20 wins.
"If we get
to 20 wins, I think we merit an NIT bid, maybe even if we
finish with 19," Head Coach Wayne Morgan said.
The loss dropped
UCR to 8-16 on the season, and coupled with its loss Saturday
night against Cal State Fullerton (5-22, 3-13), dropped the
Highlanders record against Big West teams to 2-10 on the season.
UCR and Cal State Northridge (20-9 overall, 13-3 Big Sky Conference)
will join the Big West as full-time members next season.
The Highlanders
entered the game without leading scorer Mark Miller (13.2
ppg), who sprained his ankle, and guard Jason Labagh, who
was out with a back injury. Making matters worse, starting
forward Lloyd Cook left the game four minutes in with an injured
ankle after landing awkwardly on Lemi Williams' foot.
In addition to
its injury woes, UCR as a team had an arctic shooting touch,
hitting only 7-of-29 in the first half, including 0-for-13
on threes. LBSU had no pity for UCR and opened a double-digit
lead 10 minutes into the game.
The 49ers, paced
by Ramel Lloyd's 15 first half points, finished the half with
a 9-0 run and doubled up the visitors 36-18 at the break.
"We're just
trying to work hard and not let up, because we've got to get
ready to play three games in a row next week," Lloyd
said.
In the second frame,
two baskets by Kevin Butler sparked an 8-0 UCR run, but that
only managed to cut the lead to 38-26. The Beach continued
to push the margin back up and led by 19 with 6:28 to play
when it turned on the afterburners and finished off the game
with a 16-2 run.
For the third time
this season, five 49ers finished in double figures. Lloyd
had a game-high 21 points, Lemi Williams had 13, Travis Reed
and Kevin Roberts had 12, and Ron Johnson had 10. Along with
his points, Ron Johnson also had game-highs with six assists
and four steals. Reed had a team-high eight boards, which
left him just short of another double-double.
Ted Bell led the
Highlanders with 13 points and Vili Morton finished with 10
points and 14 rebounds.
"Offensively
we played pretty well and we did some good things," Morgan
said.
Entering Sunday's
finale against Pacific, The Beach controlled its fate. A win
meant a third-place finish and a first-round game against
Boise State with a potential second rounder with Utah State.
A loss meant a fourth-place finish and games against Pacific
and potentially UC Irvine.
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