Former coach crashes 49er opener with win

By Eric Boyum, Online Forty-Niner

Monday, November 16, 1998

The Long Beach State men's basketball team lost 83-65 to Cal State Northridge on Saturday.

"I am so embarrassed," 49er forward Mate Milisa said about the loss.

The season-opening loss at The Pyramid for the 49ers was surprising because CSUN started five new players and only began playing Division I basketball two years ago.

"I never imagined anything like this," Milisa said about his team's performance.

Factors contributing to the 49ers' loss included 25 turnovers and foul trouble for 49ers Ramel Lloyd and D'Cean Bryant. Also the Matadors had 38 rebounds, eight more than the 49ers, despite starting only two players taller than 6 feet 5 inches.

"We don't need to make excuses," Head Coach Wayne Morgan said. "They outplayed us."

The 49ers opened the first half with an 11-6 lead. However, the team was scoreless at one point for almost three minutes, with Lloyd on the bench with two fouls.

CSUN had a 14-point lead, but a three-point shot by Bryant, along with 10 first-half points from 49er forward Richie Smalls, cut the Matadors' lead to 43-34 at halftime.

The 49ers started the second half by getting offensive and defensive contributions from Milisa, which trimmed the lead to four points. A slam-dunk by Bryant cut the Matadors' lead to 46-44 when Bryant's actions turned the game in the Matadors' favor. Bryant, who ran down the floor and taunted the player whom he had just scored on, received his fourth foul on a technical violation. The foul gave CSUN two foul shots and possession of the ball.

"I really don't know what D'Cean was thinking," Morgan said about the foul. "It was very bad judgment on his part."

With Lloyd also picking up his fourth foul early in the second half, Morgan was forced to put two of his most explosive scorers, Bryant and Lloyd, on the bench. During the next 10 minutes, the Matadors built a 21-point lead and then sealed the game with two slam-dunks.

"It was a big blow, and to lose in the fashion that we did is a bigger blow," Morgan said. "The only good thing coming out of this game is that we have 25 more games left."

Bobby Braswell, CSUN head coach and interim athletic director, said his staff and team never stopped working despite a drug scandal that led to the firing of two athletic department members a few weeks ago.

Braswell, an assistant coach of the 49ers from 1989-1992, said he enjoyed his first return to Long Beach to play in The Pyramid.

"What a wonderful facility and place to play," Braswell said of The Pyramid. "I remember when I was here, this place was just a dream."