49ers finish third at Big Island tournament

By Phil Witte
Daily Forty-Niner

If Long Beach State's three games of the Big Island Invitational Tournament are any indication of things to come, men's basketball Head Coach Wayne Morgan will have to stock up on antacids to make it through the season.

The Beach (3-2) finished third in the tournament, winning two games and losing one; but in the two wins they held second half leads of 27 and 18, but had to go to the wire to win both.

Forward Lemi Williams and guard Rock Lloyd took turns being The Beach's go-to man in the tournament, averaging 17.7 and 15 points, respectively, for the three games.
 
Most encouraging for LBSU was the play of center Rudy Williams, who played in all three games on his surgically repaired ankles and averaged 9.3 points and 3.3 rebounds for the tournament.

For his performance in the three games of the tournament and Tuesday's game against Air Force, Lemi Williams was named Big West player of the week. The transfer from Mineral Arts Junior College was also named to the Big Island Invitational all-tournament team.
 
LBSU 79, Tulane 74

Lloyd's team-high 18 points paced the 49ers to a win Sunday in the third-place game over the Green Waves (3-2).

Free-throw shooting was finally a strength for the 49ers in the first half, hitting 15 of 19 en route to a 47-30 halftime lead. Paced by Travis Reed's 10 points, LBSU led by as many as 20 points three times in the first half. Brandon Brown led Tulane with 12 points and three rebounds at the half.

As in the San Francisco game, the 49ers had to weather a second half comeback by the opposition, holding off 7-0 and 8-0 runs by the Green Waves. In the final minute the lead was down to 77-74, but Darrett stole the ball and fed to Lloyd for an easy lay-up to secure the victory.

Lloyd regained his shooting touch in the finale, hitting seven of 11 from the field and four of five from the free throw line. Lemi Williams finished with 16 points, including four of eight on threes, three rebounds and three steals. Reed finished with 16 points, three steals and three rebounds.

"We're pushing ourselves but we seem to be playing 30 minute games," forward Grant Stone said. "Everybody is buying into unselfish teamwork and working the ball around."

For Tulane, Brown had 20 points on eight of eight shooting and eight rebounds. Linton Johnson added 20 points and four rebounds. Ledaryl Billingsley had 15 points and 10 rebounds. The Beach managed to hold Tulane's leading scorer Brent Spann, averaging 21.5 points a game, to two points in 25 minutes.

Oregon State 78, LBSU 66

Deaundra Turner's game-high 22 points and Brian Jackson's 18 led the Beavers (4-1) to a second round 78-66 win Saturday over the 49ers. The Beavers' strength is their defense, holding every opponent under 37 points, but The Beach had more trouble with their offense.

The Beavers sprinted out of the gate past the flat-footed 49ers, running up a 24-6 lead just eight minutes into the game. Lemi Williams was the only 49er who could find the basket, scoring 14 points of the team's 29 first half points. OSU hit 61.5 percent of the first half shots compared to 32.1 percent for LBSU.

In the second half, the Beavers' lead was as big as 20 before the 49ers went on a run to cut the deficit to nine. That was as close as it got as the Beavers hit their free throws down the stretch to seal the win.

Most troubling for LBSU was its free-throw shooting, hitting only 15 from 27 attempts. Lemi Williams finished with a team-high 16 points and four rebounds, Reed with 14 points and a team-high eight rebounds, and both Rudy Williams and Lloyd had 12 points.

For the Beavers, Jackson had eight rebounds, five assists and three blocks. Adam Masten added 14 points and five assists.

LBSU 76, San Francisco 74

LBSU played to its full potential in Friday's opening round game, running out to a 43-21 halftime lead. The Dons (2-3) led 13-10 early, but The Beach went on a 33-7 run, led by Lemi Williams' 10 points. Stone also excelled in the first half, pouring in 11 points and nine rebounds, including six on the offensive glass.

The game went south for The Beach in the second half, though, when after running its lead to 27, it had to hold on until the bitter end to preserve the win.

Rudy Williams' jumper pushed the 49er lead to 54-27, but the Dons went on a 47-20 run to tie the game at 74-74 with 13 seconds to play. Lemi Williams hit a running eight-foot jumper with four seconds on the clock to clinch the victory for The Beach.

"We have to learn to play with poise when we have the lead," Darrett said. "If we'd hit our free throws the game wouldn't have been as close as it was."

Lemi Williams finished with a game-high 22 points and seven rebounds. Darrett finished with 14 points, three steals and two assists. Johnson had a game-high seven assists to go with his seven points. Poor free throw shooting also plagued the 49ers, hitting only 13 of 23 shots.

Ali Thomas led the Dons with 15 points and five rebounds. Hondre Brewer had a team-high eight rebounds and 13 points.