|
sports
online update
Losing streak
at five for The Beach
By Phil Witte
On-line Forty-Niner
Things are not looking rosy in the world of 49er basketball.
With Tuesday night's 76-68 loss at The Pyramid to Loyola Marymount
(6-4), the Long Beach State men’s basketball team (3-7)
has followed its 2-0 start by losing seven of its next eight
games -- and the one win even came against tiny Cal State Monterey
Bay.
Add to that the grim news that the women’s team fell to
0-6 following its 54-39 loss to Northwestern, and things have
taken a sharp downturn from preseason expectations of conference
titles and postseason appearances.
For the men Tuesday night, the key moments came, as they had
the previous three games, when the 49ers came out flatter than
week-old cola from the halftime break and allowed its opponent
to run off to a double-digit lead.
"We played well up until halftime," 49er Coach Wayne
Morgan said. "At the end we came back and made some plays,
but they responded and we did not make subsequent plays to get
back in the game."
The 49ers were the stronger team in the early stages, leading
by as much as 22-15 with 8:24 to play in the half. But the Lions
came back with three straight baskets, including two by Sean
Mollins to tie the game at 22.
After a Travis Reed lay-up put the 49ers back on top, LMU finished
the half with a 9-2 run to go up by 33-27 at the break. Of the
Lions 33 first half points, 26 came from the bench, including
eight points each from Mollins and Sherman Gay.
"This was a great win for our program and we bounced back
from a tough loss to UNLV,” LMU Coach Steve Aggers said.
"Defensively, we kept the ball out of the post and we also
defended the three well. We held Tony Darden to only 1-of-6
[on threes], and he just went 5-of-6 against Stanford."
The Lions picked up were it left off to start the second, going
on a 19-8 run in the first six minutes to push the lead to 17
at 52-35, its biggest lead in the contest.
The 49ers made a late run, paced by eight second-half point
by both Kevin Roberts and Michael Darrett, but could get no
closer than 73-68 in the final minute of the game.
"We were still hurting from the UNLV loss and we were happy
we were able to execute the way we did," LMU center Greg
Lakey said. Lakey had team-highs of 12 points and nine rebounds.
Andy Osborn, LMU's leading scorer, was held to two points in
the first half, but scored nine in the second, including three
late jumpers that quashed the 49er comeback.
For the 49ers, Reed had 15 points and nine rebounds, Rudy Williams
had 10 points and 10 rebounds, and Roberts had 10 points and
four assists.
With the Big West opener against defending conference champion
UC Irvine (5-4) on deck this Saturday night at 7:05 at the Bren
Events Center, the 49ers will have little time to lick their
wounds and regroup.
The team’s recent habit of allowing opponents to shot
for more than 50 percent does not bode well against a team that
features Jerry Green, the defending conference player of the
year and current Big West scoring leader at 24.1 points per
game.
"We have a good team, we just haven’t put it together
yet," 49er guard Ron Johnson said.
For Morgan, teams like UCI are not his biggest concern right
now.
"Right now, our competition is us," he said. "We
have to play to our potential, and I wouldn't call what I saw
tonight progress." |
|
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
Search our site
DEPARTMENT
OF
JOURNALISM
ONLINE 49ER
DEPARTMENTS
ADVERTISING
ADMINISTRATION
DAILY
49ER ALUMNI
SUBSCRIPTION
SERVICE
GIVE
FEEDBACK
|
