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Sports:
men's basketball
49ers split Orange
county schools
By Phil Witte
On-line Forty-Niner
Head Coach Wayne
Morgan said that an opponent had to have its lunch pail full
if it hoped to knock off resurgent Long Beach State (16-12
overall, 9-6 Big West Conference).
Cal State Fullerton
(4-21, 3-12) brought a brown paper bag with a cheese sandwich,
a bag of chips and a juice box in falling to LBSU 69-68 last
Saturday night in Fullerton.
In contrast, UC
Irvine (21-3, 13-1) brought a shiny new Allen Iverson lunch
pail with a hero sandwich, fresh fruit and a thermos full
of whoop-ass in knocking off LBSU 83-78 last Thursday night
in Irvine, completing its first season sweep of the 49ers
in 15 years.
"We have to
take the lessons we've learned and apply them to the Big West
Tournament," Morgan said.
LBSU 69, CSUF
68
Physical play and
runs dominated a first half that neither team looked like
they wanted to control. The 49ers had an early 19-10 lead
but the Titans erased that with a 14-0 run, with half the
points coming from the foul line. LBSU restored its lead with
a 9-0 run, seven points coming from Kevin Roberts, who tied
a career-high with 14 for the game.
"Coach told
me before hand he wanted me to have a really good game,"
Roberts said. "It felt good to step up tonight."
The pattern was
the same in the second half, as a five-point 49er lead was
erased by a 17-6 Titan run that was negated by a 18-3 49er
run. The Beach led 66-58 with 4:22 to play and only added
three Ron Johnson free throws after that, but were able to
hold off the host team. An Ike Harmon three at the buzzer
made the final score seem closer than it was.
"Individually,
a lot of our guys could have done better, but we played a
good team game," Morgan said.
Ramel Lloyd led
the 49ers with 16 points and Roberts had a team-high seven
boards. Harmon had game-highs of 22 points and 9 rebounds
for the Titans.
UC Irvine 83,
LBSU 78
UCI shot the lights
out, hitting 55 percent from the floor before a Bren Center
record-crowd of 5,300, overcoming the 49ers' sizable 37-28
rebounding edge in the process.
"It was hotly
contested and that was the best game they played all year,"
Morgan said. "During their run in the second half we
got a little anxious and we needed to play better offense
and defense."
The Anteaters had
more energy in the first half, running the lead to nine twice
before two Lloyd buckets cut the margin to five at the break.
The 49ers played
strong early in the second half, pulling ahead 51-50 before
the Anteaters took control of the game. Jerry Green's nine
points paced a 17-3 Anteater run that pushed the lead into
double digits, where it stayed until less than four minutes
remained in the game. Green finished with a game-high 25 points,
much better than the four he scored in the last meeting between
the two teams.
"He was a
lot more focused this time and I got an early foul so I wasn't
able to be as aggressive this time," Ron Johnson said,
who shut Green down in the previous game.
Lloyd led the 49ers
with 24 points on 10-of-16 shooting, Lemi Williams scored
17, and Travis Reed had 15 points and a game-high nine rebounds.
Ben Jones had a
season-high 23 points to complement Green's 25, and the pair,
along with Stanislav Zuzak, all pulled down seven boards each.
The final week
of the season sees the 49ers at home for two games. Wednesday
night at 7:35 the visitors will be UC Riverside (8-15), who
will be joining the Big West next season. The 49ers knocked
off the Highlanders 69-64 in Riverside on Jan. 24
In addition to
being the final home game for seniors Lloyd, Grant Stone,
Brad Smith and Rory Clark, Sunday's 2:05 p.m. season finale
versus Pacific (15-10, 7-7) will likely be vital for both
teams as tournament positioning is still up for grabs. LBSU
eeked out a 59-58 win over Pacific in Stockton on Jan. 27.
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