Basketball notes

Cal State Long Beach men's basketball Coach Seth Greenberg seemed pleased with Marcus Johnson after the 49ers defeated High- 5 America, 86-80, Sunday in their first exhibition game.

Johnson, a sophomore transfer from San Diego Mesa College, scored 13 points and made six of eight shots in 21 minutes.

"He really gave us some solid minutes,'' Greenberg said.

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Greenberg said the 49ers will be a good free-throw shooting team.

But they only went 13 of 26 against the Patriots.

"I'm saying that now," Greenberg said, "but I might look foolish at the end of the season.''

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It's no secret teams are going to toss the ball inside against the 49ers' undersized interior defense.

"We know that,'' Greenberg said, "but that just means we're going to foul a lot.''

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He wasn't Bob Knight, but High-5 Coach Rle Nichols did carry a slight - OK, very slight - resemblence to the Indiana coach, in appearance and sideline quips.

A sampling:

Nichols to the officials after his team was called for a foul that he questioned: "Hey, this isn't Christmas, guys. Christmas comes after Thanksgiving, huh?''

Nichols, who did not know some of his players' names, to an assistant: "Hey, get that No. 40 guy in the right defense. I don't know his name.''

Nichols after one of his players committed a silly foul: "Hey, keep your hand out of the damn cookie jar.''

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CSULB's Eric Brown, who went 7-for-9, scored nine of the 49ers' first 21 points and finished with 16 . . . The Patriots' bench outscored their counterparts from the 49ers 24-17 in the first half . . . Who Greenberg started: Juaquin Hawkins, Cotton, Jackson, Salahuddin and Brown . . . The 49ers conclude their exhibition schedule at 7:30 p.m. Saturday against the Mexican Nationals at The Pyramid.