TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 16, 1999

Merrill mashes The Beach

By Wes Woods

On-Line Forty-Niner

This time, the game against UC Santa Barbara was decided with a little more than 2.2 seconds left.

Unfortunately for the Long Beach State men's basketball team, a 41-29 halftime deficit wasn't exactly what the team was shooting for.

And after the 87-77 loss on the road Thursday, the 49ers found itself in third place behind the Big West's Western Division leading Gauchos (8-3, 10-11) and Pacific (7-4, 12-9).

The 49ers (7-5, 10-12) were led by guard Ramel "Rock" Lloyd's 24 point effort on 10-of-19 shooting, but the Gauchos managed to have four players in double digits.

Leading all scorers was Gaucho forward Josh Merrill, who lit up The Beach with 31 points on 11-of-17 shooting. Bunton also shot three of six from behind the three-point line and was a perfect six of six from the charity stripe.

The Beach were also outrebounded 35-25 by the Gauchos, who were paced by center B.J. Bunton, leading all players in snatching 10 boards and scoring 23 points.

Center Mate Milisa led the 49ers in rebounds with six while scoring 18 points. Guard Charles O'Neal added 18 points while tallying six steals.

The 49ers next game will be against UC Irvine Thursday at The Pyramid at 7:35 p.m.