Travis Reed scored a career-high 30 points and Long Beach State shot 60
per cent from the floor Thursday night as the 49ers beat Cal State Fullerton,
77-60, in Big West Conference men's basketball action in Titan Gym.
Pape Sow had 27 points and a game-high 9 rebounds for the Titans, who
fell to 4-15 and 1-9 in the Big West. Long Beach State also got double-figure
scoring from Ron Johnson (16) and Michael Darrett (10) and improved to
7-14 and 3-7.
Reed hit 13 of 16 shots, all in the paint, made 4 of 5 free throws and
led the 49ers with 6 rebounds. He had 18 points in the first half. His
previous best game was a 26-point effort, also against Fullerton, two
seasons ago.
Sow kept the Titans in the game, scoring 17 points in the first half and
hitting 9 of 12 shots from the floor and 9 of 13 free throws for the game.
Long Beach led from the midway point of the first half. A Reed bucket
at 9:34 broke an 18-18 tie and the 49ers, who shot only 21 per cent from
the floor at UC Santa Barbara on Saturday night, were on their way to
a 37-31 halftime lead.
The Titans got as close as 44-42 after a Brandon Campbell 3-pointer and
a Sow dunk shot at 13:28. But Reed made a putback to spark a 9-0 Long
Beach run for a 53-42 advantage and the Titans could only get as close
as 60-54 with 6:50 to play. Darrett hit a 3-pointer and Chris Jenkins
made two free throws for a 65-54 lead and the 49ers stretched it out over
the final minutes.
Fullerton hosts UC Irvine on Saturday night while Long Beach State visits
UC Riverside.
