Darden
hits 8 threes as Beach falls to Waves
By Karl Peterson
On-line Forty-Niner
The
Long Beach State men’s basketball team put
together perhaps its best effort and treated
the fans to the most exciting game of the
young season Monday, but lost, 65-63, to
the Pepperdine Waves.
After Pepperdine’s Devin Montgomery missed
the front end of one-and-one free throws,
senior forward Lemi Williams drove the length
of the court and had a chance to tie the
game as time expired with a running eight-foot
bank shot. The shot was too strong, however,
and the buzzer sounded before a rebound
could be secured.
A crowd of 1,914 at The Pyramid witnessed
a fine shooting display by 49ers guard Tony
Darden, who hit 8-of-11 three point baskets
en route to 24 points, including consecutive
three-pointers with around eight minutes
left in the game that brought The Beach
(1-2) to a tie and the crowd to its feet.
Darden’s eight field goals from beyond the
arch tied the LBSU single-game record for
three-point shots made.
“I think Tony (Darden) hit some huge shots
in both the first and second halves to kind
of keep us in the game,” head coach Larry
Reynolds said.
Darden’s baskets were followed by a Chris
Jenkins’ three-point basket and lay-ups
by Vance Lawhorn and Williams, giving the
49ers a seven-point lead with 3:35 remaining.
Pepperdine forward Jimmy Miggins took advantage
of 49er turnovers to score seven of his
11 points in the final three minutes to
help the Waves (1-2) to its first victory
of the season.
“Pepperdine did a great job in the last
two minutes of the game, they stepped up
and Miggins made some nice put-backs,” Reynolds
said. “You have to give them credit, when
the game is on the line they stepped up
but that’s something we have to learn to
do.”
The Waves, which have been hurt by injuries
this season, were led by sophomore guard
Terrance Johnson, who scored 18 points on
6-of-8 shooting.
The Beach got off to a quick start in the
first half opening up an early 10-point
lead with help from three of Darden’s three-pointers,
but the Waves were able to climb back into
the game and pull within three points at
halftime, 36-33.
“We played in spurts, I thought the first
15 minutes we played horrible,” Pepperdine
head coach Paul Westphal said. “I thought
we ended playing well in the last 25 minutes
though.”
The Beach will bus their way to a road game
in Cedar City, Utah, against the Southern
Utah University Thunder-birds tonight at
6:05 p.m. Southern Utah is 1-2 on the year,
coming off its first victory, a home win
against Sacramento State.
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