Warriors come up short at Long Beach State, 89-81
Long Beach State dominated the inside in an 89-81 victory over Hawai’i in the Big West Conference basketball opener for both teams on Thursday night in Long Beach, Calif.
The Rainbow Warriors dropped to 9-5 overall, and is now 0-6 in the Walter Pyramid since joining the Big West Conference in the 2012-13 season. The 49ers improved to 7-10.
Long Beach forwards Barry Ogalue (21 points, 9 for10 field goals), Gabe Levin (17, 6 for 10) and Temidayo Yussuf (18, 6 for 8) combined for 57 points. Most of those points came from close range, as they combined to shoot 21 for 28. Point guard Deishuan Booker added 18 points for the 49ers.
Long Beach finished 31 for 49 from the field overall (63.3 percent), and also went 26 for 31 on free throws. Hawai’i went 31 for 63 from the field (49.2 percent) and 8 for 11 on free throws.
Brocke Stepteau led the Warriors with 19 points on 7-for-12 shooting. Sheriff Drammeh added 15 points, Drew Buggs had 14 points and five assists, and Mike Thomas finished with 10 points.
The lead changed six times in the first half, and neither team led by more than four points. The 49ers took the lead for good with 8:32 remaining in the first half, and eventually took a 46-38 lead at intermission.
Long Beach shot 65.5 percent (19 for 29) from the field in the first half. The Warriors shot 48.4 percent (15 for 31) from the field, but stayed close by connecting on 8 of 15 from 3-point range.
The 49ers stayed in control the entire second half, and built their lead to as many as 14. The Warriors cut the lead to four in the final minute, but the 49ers secured the victory at the free throw line.
More details will be reported later.
They shot 62% from the floor thanks to the late fouls calls any time LBSU missed…free throw disparity much? 31 to 11, I mean come on. I hope our FT’s are as equally lopsided when they come down to play us in the SSC. 26 made FT’s to 8, that’s an 18 point advantage. Game, set, match.