University of California, Riverside
Long Beach State
LBSU Uses Strong Second Half to Knock Off UCR, 82-70
1/21/2006 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
The Long Beach State 49ers used a strong second half to lead them to a 82-70 win over the host UC Riverside Highlanders in a Big West contest in front of 1,342 fans at the Student Recreation Center in Riverside Saturday.
The 49ers improved to 9-8 overall and 4-2 in the Big West. UCR is now 2-15 overall and 2-5 in the Big West.
For the Highlanders, senior guard Rickey Porter had 22 points and junior guard Dedrick Bates had a career-high 21 points and seven rebounds. Freshman guard Sean Cunningham, in his first game back after missing four games due to eligibility issues, had a career-high 11 points and a career- and game-high five steals. Overall the Highlanders shot 23-of-69 (33.3%) from the field and 6-of-23 (26.1%) from the three point line. UCR was 18-of-22 (81.8%) from the free throw line.
Kejuan Johnson led the 49ers with 18 points and Aaron Nixon added 15 points off of the bench. Onye Ibekwe had eight points and a game-high 10 rebounds. The 49ers shot 32-of-62 (51.6%) from the field, 5-of-16 (31.3%) from the three point line, but 0-of-7 in the second half. They were 13-of-19 (68.4%) from the free throw line in the second half.
The first half was a back-and-forth affair, but the 49ers finished on a 7-2 run to take a 39-35 lead into the intermission. UCR took a 33-32 lead on a bucket and free throw by Larry Cunningham with 3:27 left, but the 49ers came fight back to build the lead to six at 39-33 on a sideline jumper off an inbounds play by Johnson, followed by a trey by Nixon. Moments later Johnson stole an errant pass from Porter and converted the layup for the 39-35 lead. Porter dropped in a layup with 57 seconds left to cut the margin to four into the intermission.
The Highlanders shot 12-of-38 (31.6%) in the first half, but were just 3-of-13 (23.1%) from the three point line. Long Beach was 14-of-31 (45.2%) and hit 5-of-9 from the three point line. They struggled at the free throw line, hitting just 6-of-11 (54.5%), compared to UCR's 8-of-9 (88.9%).
LBSU outscored the Highlanders 24-9 in a second half run that broke a 51-51 tie and built it into a 75-60 lead with 3:31 remaining. At one point during the run, the Highlanders were 1-of-14 from the field. UCR got it back to single digits at 79-70 with 1:02 remaining on a three-pointer by Porter, but that was as close as they would get.
Head Coach David Spencer missed his second consecutive game with vertigo stemming from a severe inner ear infection. Once again, Assistant Coach Vonn Webb ran the team in Spencer's absence.
