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sports
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49ers lose first
ever to Highlanders
By Phil Witte
On-line Forty-Niner
In its first-ever
victory over the school after 15 defeats, UC Riverside knocked
off Long Beach State 73-67 Thursday night at The Pyramid.
The win was also
the first on the road this season for the Highlanders (5-6
overall, 2-1 Big West), and dropped the 49ers (4-9, 0-2) further
into the Big West basement.
UCR erased an 11-point
49ers lead with a 14-0 run late in the game, punctuated by
two Jason Perkins three-pointers. The 49ers pulled back to
within one with 21 seconds left, but when Vili Morton tried
to put back a Lloyd Cook miss, he made the shot and was fouled,
hitting the free throw and effectively iced the game for the
visitors.
"We had an
opportunity to win the game, but we didn’t make the plays
to finish them off," 49er Coach Wayne Morgan said.
LBSU controlled
the tempo in the first half and were hampered only Ron Johnson
and Kevin Roberts getting into foul trouble. The home team
used runs of 11-0 and 9-0 to lead by as many as 12 in the
first half before being up 39-32 at the break.
But better ball
control served the Highlanders in the second half during the
comeback. They had 15 turnovers in the first half and two
in the first two minutes of the second, but only two in 18
minutes after that.
"We slowed
down our game in the second half," UCR Coach John Masi
said. "In the first half, we were trying to run and make
the play before we even had the ball."
The 49ers held
off two early rallies by UCR and used another 9-0 run to lead
64-53 with 6:41 to play before the Highlanders rallied to
take the lead. John Galbreath, who scored 14 of his game-high
20 points in the second half, paced the comeback.
"In the first
half we were beating ourselves, but in the second we settled
down and played better offensively," Galbreath said.
Tony Darden lead
the 49ers with 17 points, the majority of which came on his
4-of-6 three-point shooting. With Travis Reed double-teamed,
Rudy Williams often got the ball, and the senior finished
with 16 points and five rebounds. Reed had nine points and
seven rebounds, but hit only 1-of-7 on his free throws.
Morton, the leading
shot blocker in the conference, had 12 points, a game-high
13 rebounds, and four blocks. Jason Perkins added 17 points.
Next up for The
Beach is a chance to move out of the conference basement with
a game at The Pyramid against local rivals Cal State Fullerton.
Last season, the 49ers swept the season series with the Titans
(3-9, 0-3), winning 78-54 at The Pyramid.
Earlier in the
week, Kevin Roberts career high of 21 points paced the 49ers
to a 105-70 win over Indiana Purdue Fort Wayne at The Pyramid.
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