UCLA sneaks past 49ers, 75-62

By Andrew De Lara
Online Forty-Niner
Contributing Writer

The Long Beach State men's basketball team entered the hallowed halls of UCLA's Pauley Pavillion with the hope that it would be a momentum-building game characterized by defensive intensity and hard-nosed play.

All was well following the dissipation of a 15-point half-time deficit, but UCLA freshman guard Arron Affallo shattered that hope, as the 49ers (1-3) fell to the UCLA Bruins 75-62 before a gathering of 6,211 on Tuesday night.

"Affalo got some off," 49ers Head Coach Larry Reynolds said. "We just lost track of him."

Affalo was perfect from the three-point line, hitting three without a miss, in addition to racking up six assists, five rebounds, and a steal for UCLA (4-0).

"I was so into the game I didn't know I didn't miss a shot until just now," Affalo said.

The 49ers found itself with a 38-23 half-time deficit as the teams' early season leading scorer, Anthony Coleman was hit with early foul trouble, sending him to the bench.

The Beach battled back with vigilance in the second half however, tying the score at 48 off of a fade away jumper from 49er leading scorer, Shawn Hawkins, with 12:40 left in the game.

The Beach would then take a 51-48 lead off free throws by Cody Pearson and Tony Bryant, followed by a dogfight of lead changes for several minutes. But the Beach faltered before a big 18-3 UCLA run lead by Dijon Thompson, who had 25 points for the match, with just under six minutes remaining.

We lost our poise," Hawkins said. "We took a couple of quick shots in transition and we didn't take care of the ball well enough."

The defensive intensity was indeed present for the 49ers, disrupting the Bruins' half-court offense and forcing 18 UCLA turnovers.

"We had some opportunities, but we took some ill-advised shots and had a couple of (near) shot-clock violations," Reynolds said. "The game was in the balance, we can't panic in those situations."