Cody Pearson's 3-point play with 34 seconds remaining proved the difference
Saturday evening as Long Beach State rallied for a 66-63 victory over
the Titans in The Pyramid. Long Beach State improved to 5-18 (3-10 Big
West), while Fullerton fell to 13-8 (7-5 Big West) as it saw a 5-game
winning streak and a 3-game road winning streak terminated.
Pearson's play on an offensive rebound gave Long
Beach a 64-60 lead and Shawn Hawkins extended it to 66-60 with two free
throws with 23 seconds left. But Fullerton had a chance to force overtime.
Yaphett King hit a 3-pointer with 17 seconds left and Vershan Cottrell
stole an inboiunds pass only to have his layup blocked. After Hawkins
missed a one-and-one, Bobby Brown missed a 3-pointer that would have tied
the game yet the Titans still had another chance. Anthony Coleman missed
two free throws with 2 seconds left and the 49ers fouled King on the rebound.
He missed the front end of a one-and-one so there was no miss-on-purpose
to try to tip in.
Hawkins led the way for the 49ers with 15 points (7-of-10 from the free
throw line) and a team-high eight rebounds. Jibril Hodges poured in 14
points and four rebounds. Both Cody Pearson and Kevin Houston scored 12
points to round out the top 49er scoring leaders. Pearson grabbed six
rebounds, while Houston dished out a team-high four dimes and two steals.
Fullerton got 15 points from King, 14 from Bobby Brown
and 13 from Ralphy Holmes despite all three being in foul trouble. The
Titans, who jumped out to a 14-2 lead, made only one field goal in the
final 11 minutes of the first half to allow the 49ers to get within 5
points at intermission.
After Long Beach tied the game at 36-36 with 16:47
to play, Fullerton had an 8-0 run capped by 5 points by Bobby Brown for
a 44-36 lead at 14:46. But Long Beach scored the next 10 points to take
its first lead of the game at 46-44.
Fullerton's last lead was 60-59 as Jermaine Harper
made a 4-point play with 1:50 remaining. But Houston hit a baseline jumper
and Pearson followed with his 3-point play.
Long Beach State shot just 36 percent from the field for the game, but
converted 19-of-26 free throws (73 percent) and made nine lay-ups alone
in the second half. LBSU out-rebounded the Titans, 41-36, and committed
five fewer turnovers, 10-15. The 10 turnovers tied a season-low for The
Beach. LBSU also added eight steals and three block shots, two courtesy
of Coleman. In fact Coleman made a key block after the in-bounds pass
was stolen with 13 seconds left in the game.
The Titans shot 38 percent for the game (21-of-54) and were 8-of-22 from
three-point range.
The Titans play their first home game of the season with students in classes
Thursday night vs. Idaho in a battle for fourth place in the Big West
Conference standings.
