49ers lose exhibition to All-Stars by one point

By Phil Witte
Daily Forty-Niner

Exhibition games are designed to tune teams up and expose any weaknesses that need addressing before games start counting in the standings.

Long Beach State's 96-95 loss to the West Los Angeles All-Stars Saturday at The Pyramid showed The Beach can score at will, but needs its injured big men back as soon as possible before the team can shut down an opponent.

Forward Gordon Scott's dunk with three seconds to play sealed the win for the visitors, and for most of the game they controlled the pace and flow of the game.

The Beach had problems controlling the ball, losing 19 turnovers and suffering 13 steals by the All-Stars. Guard Calvin Patterson had a game-high 29 points for the All-Stars.

"We did not take care of the ball and we had too many unforced errors," Head Coach Wayne Morgan said. "Scoring 95 points should have been enough, but our defense and rebounding have to be better."

One positive for LBSU was the better than advertised shooting touch of forward Lemi Williams, who had a team-high 29 points on 10 of 16 shooting, including four of seven on three-pointers.

"We were definitely outplayed but we are better than we showed tonight," Williams said. "I'm not one to go on stats and there are a lot of things I could have done to contribute more to the team tonight."

The 49ers were quicker off the block, starting the game with an 11-0 run and stretching its lead to 19 in the first half, led by guard Rock Lloyd's 14 first-half points. To their credit, the All-Stars did not fade, and, paced by Patterson's 14 points and Scott's 13, pulled to within 51-45 at the half.
 
Showing that before the game they read the scouting report indicating a lack of size inside, the All-Stars continued to attack the 49er basket, pulling ahead five minutes into the second half at 62-61.

Two quick three-pointers by guard Brad Smith pulled The Beach back on top, but guard Shane Lantz's 10 second-half points pulled the All-Stars' lead to seven with 3:48 to play.

Williams hit four straight free throws to keep LBSU within four in the last minute before hitting a clutch three with 19 seconds to play to cut the All-Stars' lead to one.

With the full court press working, Lloyd pressured Williams and Johnson knocked to ball to Lloyd who dunked to put The Beach up by one with 0:09 left.

All seemed well when forward Saipele Tuialii traveled the next time up the floor, but one final mistake sealed the 49ers' fate. Johnson attempted to inbound the ball to guard Michael Darrett under the basket, but Lantz intercepted the pass and Scott only had to take two steps to dunk and put the All-Stars on top for good.

"Our main problem was defensive pressure, or rather a lack of it," said forward Grant Stone. "We looked a little lackadaisical out there and they played a good game to beat us."

LBSU forward Travis Reed had a game-high 12 assists and recorded his first double-double of the year. Scott, who finished the game with 21 points and seven steals, averaged 16.5 points in two games versus LBSU last year as a member of the Idaho Vandals.

The 49ers hope to have forwards Rudy Williams and Vance Lawhorn back in the line-up when the team starts the regular season Friday at 5:05 p.m. at Southern Illinois in Charbondale, Ill. Last season, LBSU knocked off the Salukis 78-77 at The Pyramid.

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