49ers cannot ride Waves

 

By Eric Boyum, On-Line Forty-Niner

Monday, November 23, 1998

Overtime for the second time in one week appeared likely for the Long Beach State men's basketball team on Saturday.

With only nine seconds to play and trailing the Waves 50-48, Long Beach State point guard Antrone Lee forced Pepperdine's Jelani Gardner into a critical turnover.

However, the 49ers failed to extend the game when forward Richie Smalls missed a four-foot jump shot on their final possession.

The 49ers were forced to foul with only two seconds remaining and Pepperdine added two free-throws to seal the win 52-48.

"I don't know, but about four people fouled me when I went up for the shot," Smalls said in regards to his shot that circled the rim but did not drop.

No foul call was made on the play by an officiating crew that had its hands full all night with a physical, defensive battle.

"This is the toughest game they [Pepperdine] have had all year ... they barely got out of here with a win tonight," 49er Head Coach Wayne Morgan said.

The undefeated (4-0) Waves rode out a 29-17 deficit and then held the 49ers (1-2) to only one basket for nearly eight minutes with tough man-to-man defense. In that time, Pepperdine went on a 15-2 offensive run, covering the last and first four minutes of each half.

The Waves then took a 35-33 lead on a Gardner three-point shot and never relinquished it.

Pepperdine, who had averaged 73 points in its previous three wins, presented size match-up problems for the 49ers' backcourt going into the game.

This prompted Morgan to start Lee at point guard opposite the 6-foot-6-inch Gardner, rather than Tommy Davis, who is listed at 5 feet 9 inches.

"The pace of the game was really slowed tonight compared to our first three games," Gardner said.

With so much concentration on defense, the 49ers managed to score only 17 points in the second half, shooting .286 percent from the field.

Morgan's team, which scored 98 points in Tuesday's overtime victory at Loyola Marymount, could not overcome the Waves' tightened defense, thus leading to the 49ers making only one of nine three-point shots.

The Pepperdine defense held Ramel Lloyd and Lee to a 49er team high of 18 points each.

"Tommy Prince is one of the best defensive players in the country," Pepperdine Head Coach Lorenzo Romar said in regards to his difficult task of containing Lloyd. "Our guys made some big plays down the stretch."