49ers
deliver beating, dominate CSUSF Gators
108-51
By Andrew De Lara
Online Forty-Niner
Staff Writer
It only hurt once—at least that’s what the head coach of the San
Francisco State Gators could have told his troops in efforts to console them
after enduring a massive 57-point beating at the hands of the Long Beach State
men’s basketball team Sunday afternoon in The Walter Pyramid.
No words could possibly comfort the division-II Gator squad, whose narrow eight-point
deficit at about 8.5 minutes into the game rapidly escalated to a stunning
59-28 halftime score.
“
We were a little anxious at first,” said 49er Head Coach Larry
Reynolds, whose squad is 1-2 after the home opener.
“
We turned the ball over early, but I think they settled down nicely,
and got into a pretty good groove.”
The groove continued from the buzzer to start the second half, all the way
until the end of the match. The second half saw long 49er runs, steals, blocks,
fast breaks and crowd-dazzling dunks.
With the thought of last year’s slow-down style at the back of their
minds, LBSU’s faithful fans were pleasantly surprised to see the 49ers
step up their intensity and running game throughout all 40 minutes on The Walter
Pyramid floor.
“
I thought we attacked the basket well and then we started sharing
the ball,” Reynolds said. “I think we had 23 assists
on 36 baskets, and counting all the steals and breakouts we had,
I think that’s a pretty good ratio.”
Senior guard Jibril Hodges led the high-octane Beach offense with 17 points
of the night, while junior college All-American transfer guard Aaron Nixon
continued to impress Beach fans with his 15 point performance.
The lambasting allowed for many 49ers to come out and hone their skills and
contribute to the thrashing.
Senior forward Shawn Hawkins complemented the effort with 14 points, while
junior guard Kevin Houston (11 points), junior forward Sterling Byrd (13 points)
and freshman guard Artis Gant (10 points) rounded out the six 49ers in double
figures during the afternoon.
“
Artis Gant I thought had a very good game—his third game as
a collegian,” Reynolds said. “Onye [Ibekwe] rebounded
the ball very well for us, and Mark Dawson came up big for us in
the second half, had some blocks and had a great presence inside.”
And although the competition wasn’t of the highest caliber, the game
served as a learning experience and a chance to build momentum.
“
It’s not a clear assessment, but it was kind of a good game
to get your confidence up, get things going the right way, get the
ball rolling,” said Hawkins, referring to the team and its
dominant performance. “We finally had a home game.
Everyone shoots the ball better at home, and we got the ball to start going
into the hole.”
Fox Sports Net will broadcast the 49er men’s basketball team tonight
at 8 p.m., live from The Walter Pyramid as they take on non-conference foe
Loyola Marymount University.
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