49ers edge past Air Force
in home opener

By Phil Witte
Daily Forty-Niner

The learning curve turned sharply upward for the Long Beach State men's basketball team as the defense started to work as well as the offense in Tuesday night's 84-77 win over Air Force at The Pyramid.

The 49ers (1-1) were not able to hinder the Falcons' (1-2) strong perimeter offense, which hit 15 three-pointers, one short of a school record. The big bodies inside and the quick hands outside were able to stop their Princeton-style backdoor entries into the lane so that when the Falcons' hot shooting stopped, the 49ers turned on the afterburners and went in for the kill.

"I think we put together a solid 40 minutes tonight," Head Coach Wayne Morgan said. "We had a few lapses but our concentration was good and we maintained it through adversity."

The early stages of the game saw the teams exchange three pointers in what was almost a shooting clinic, and even 49er center Rudy Williams hit his first trey for The Beach. He would have to leave the court soon after that when he landed awkwardly battling for a rebound, aggravating his leg injuries, and he would return briefly in the second half.

With center Travis Reed and guard Ron Johnson in early foul trouble, forward Grant Stone and guard Michael Darrett had to step up for LBSU. In one minute-and-a-half stretch in the half, Darrett made three straight steals on Falcon passes, scoring seven points and running the 49ers' lead to 16.

"On those first three steals they telegraphed where the pass was going so I just reacted quickly," Darrett said. "When I came in I asked Ron how I should play and he said to stay in front and contain them."

Right before the half the Falcons went on an 11-3 run, cutting the 49er lead to 42-32 at the break. 49er guard Rock Lloyd, who finished with a team-high 24 points, led all scorers with 11 at the half and guard Lamoni Yazzie led the Falcons with 9. As a team, the Falcons hit 6 of 8 from behind the arch.

In the second half, it only took Air Force 3:09 to trim the 10 point lead down to one before pulling ahead at the 12:33 mark, due mostly to forward Robert Todd's 15 early points. Deciding they weren't going to win a contest of threes with the Falcons, the 49er players moved their game inside the paint, getting a majority of second half points from the charity stripe or on lay-ups.

The game seesawed for much of the half and the Falcons were ahead with as little as 6:15 to go in the game. Once their hot-shooting touches went cold, the Falcons had no adjustments to make to try to score and were at the mercy of the 49ers' pounding inside game. As a team, LBSU hit 19 of 24 free throws in the second half.

The Falcons did not go down without a fight, but unlike last year's game, the 49ers were able to finish off their opponent well before the final buzzer.

With 2:15 left a Yazzie three-pointer cut the 49ers' lead to four. On the ensuing possession, Reed was fouled and hit the first free throw but missed the second. On the rebound, forward Lemi Williams leapt around and through three Falcons under the basket to grab the rebound before swinging the ball to Lloyd who hit a three to ice the victory.

"They played hard throughout and I give them credit for not fading after the first half," Lloyd said. "We kept our composure out there and we weren't too anxious."

Due mostly to the Falcons' torrid shooting limiting the 49ers' chances, the visitors led in rebounds 28 to 23. Darrett finished the game with 13 points, five steals, five assists and no turnovers. Lemi Williams finished with 17 points and seven rebounds.
Todd led Air Force with a game-high 25 points and seven rebounds. Falcon guard Selwyn Mansell led both teams with eight rebounds and eight assists.

Next up for The Beach is a long weekend in Hilo, Hawaii at the Big Island Invitational where the team is set to play San Francisco in the first round. Possible games against Oregon State and Oklahoma State could be on the cards if the 49ers proceed into the winner's bracket.

The next home game for The Beach is Saturday, Dec. 2 against No. 5 Stanford.

Stanford won the only previous meeting between the schools, an 80-77 decision during the 1987-88 season.

Caroline Limuti/ Daily Forty-Niner

Forward Lemi Williams takes a pass during the 49ers' 84-77 win over
Air Force Tuesday at The Pyramid.