Blog Archives - 49er Hoops

Long Beach State edges CSUN at Gold Mine, 71-64

2/26/2023

Jason R. Aula

(Photo credit: John Fajardo, Long Beach State Athletics)

LOS ANGELES, California -- LBSU defeated CSUN (7-23, 4-15), 71-64 Saturday evening to complete the sweep of the season series at the Gold Mine. Due to rain damage at the Walter Pyramid the Saturday afternoon match was moved to the classic on campus arena the Gold Mine. Although the Gold Mine was sold out to capacity Long Beach State Athletics anticipates the final home match of the season will return to the primary home the Walter Pyramid against CSU Bakersfield.

The Matadors kept the match close in the second half, but first half LBSU sharp shooting yielded a considerable lead offset by CSUN’s three-point show out.

The Matadors had success from behind the arc and three players scorings in double figures. De’Sean Allen Eikens led all scorers with 21 points and Ethan Igbanugo chipped in 19 points.

Long Beach State (16-14, 10-8) was led by the play of the Traores and solid bench play. Lassina Traore scored 18 points with six boards and Aboubacar Traore had another double-double with 17 points and 12 rebounds.

UP NEXT: Long Beach State (16-14, 10-8) faces CSU Bakersfield (10-19, 6-12) on Thursday March 2 at 7 p.m. at the Walter Pyramid, Long Beach, California. Live coverage on ESPN +

UC Santa Barbara upsets LBSU with help from officials, 78-73

2/25/2023

Jason R. Aula

(Photo credit: UC Santa Barbara Athletics)

LOS ANGELES, California -- Ajay Mitchell led all scorers with 28 points as UC Santa Barbara upset Long Beach State 78-73 on Thursday night. The Gauchos needed help from the referees with questionable foul calls to make up for all the three-point misses and to slow down LBSU’s Showtime Era style offense. Long Beach State (15-14, 9-8) played tough defense but only got seven shots from the charity strike and UC Santa Barbara (21-7, 12-5) shot 14 of 21.

The first half yielded a 10-0 run for Long Beach State as well as an 8-0 run with many lead changes throughout out the game. LBSU held the lead at the half, but only shot 4 for 11 from behind the arc whereas UC Santa Barbara shot 10 for 25, which was the reason for the Big West Conference loss. LBSU outrebounded the Guachos and had a high field goal shooting percentage overall as well as considerable bench play.

Both Traores had double-doubles for LBSU and four players scoring in double figures. Lassina Traore put 17 points with 11 boards and Aboubacar Traore scored 12 points with 10 rebounds.

Despite Tim Donaghy style officiating at UC Riverside earlier this month and UC Santa Barbara Thursday night, Long Beach State appears ready to win the Big West Conference tourney for the NCAA tournament berth.

UP NEXT: Long Beach State (15-14, 9-8) faces CSUN (7-22, 4-14) on Saturday February 25 at 4 p.m. at the Gold Mine, Long Beach, California. Live coverage on ESPN +.

Long Beach State loses 2nd straight with 67-70 loss to Hawaii

2/19/2023

Jason R. Aula

(Photo credit: John Fajardo, Long Beach State Athletics)

LOS ANGELES, California -- Long Beach State (15-13, 9-7) lost a critical match at home to Hawaii (19-8, 10-5) 67-70, in Big West Conference play. The Saturday match was attended by 1715 at the Walter Pyramid with two weeks left in the regular season. LBSU is preparing for the Big West Conference tournament with four games to go in the regular season, which could result in an NCAA tournament berth.

LBSU had a 12-0 run to nearly take the lead with five minutes to go in the second half but fell up short due to its free throw shooting and Hawaii's three-point shooting precession. Long Beach State's AJ George led all scorers with 20 points and had four players scoring in double digits and shared the ball well, but a better three-point shot percentage could have resulted in a win.

Kamaka Hepa led the Rainbow Warriors with 19 points.

UP NEXT: Long Beach State (15-13, 9-7) faces UC Santa Barbara (20-6, 11-4) on Thursday February 23 at 7 p.m. at the UCSB Events Center, Santa Barbara, California. Live coverage on ESPN +.

UC Riverside upsets Long Beach State, 88-76

2/16/2023

Jason R. Aula

(Photo credit: Zyon Pullin, UC Riverside Athletics)

LOS ANGELES, California -- Long Beach State (15-12, 9-6) was defeated by UC Riverside (17-10, 10-5) 88-76, at the Big West Conference match. The Tuesday match was attended by 1274 at the Student Recreation Center. LBSU did not rebound or share the ball well and shot poorly from behind the arc in addition to turning the ball over 17 times in the conference matchup loss.

Long Beach State's Marcus Tsohonis led all scorers with 26 points and Lassina Traore added 15 points with six rebounds.

Flynn Cameron led the Highlanders with 23 points and five rebounds.

UP NEXT: Long Beach State (15-11, 9-5) faces Hawaii (18-8, 9-5) on Saturday February 18 at 4 p.m. in the Walter Pyramid, Long Beach, California. Live coverage on ESPN +.

Long Beach State Earns Big Road Win Over CSU Bakersfield

2/11/2023

Jason R. Aula

(Photo credit: Carter Bennett Utah Athletics)

LOS ANGELES, California -- Long Beach State (15-11, 9-5) came up with a big road win against CSU Bakersfield (9-16, 5-9) 79-69 in Big West Conference play. The Saturday homecoming match was attended by 1153 at the Icardo Center. CSU Bakersfield was outrebounded and did not shoot the ball well from any of the three categories which led to the LBSU victory.

Long Beach State had four players scoring in double figures. Jadon Jones of LBSU led all scorers with 18 points.

Cameron Smith led the Roadrunners with 16 points and four rebounds.

UP NEXT: Long Beach State (15-11, 9-5) faces UC Riverside (16-10, 9-5) on Wednesday, February 15 at 7 p.m. at the Student Recreation Center, Riverside, California. Live coverage on ESPN +.

UC Santa Barbara snaps Long Beach State six-game win streak

2/10/2023

Jason R. Aula

(Photo credit: John Fajardo, Long Beach State Athletics)

LOS ANGELES, California — The Thursday night match selected for coverage by ESPNU was attended by 2836 at the Walter Pyramid. Long Beach State (14-11, 8-5) fell to UC Santa Barbara (19-4, 10-2) 75-72, who appeared in the NCAA tournament last year after winning the Big West Conference tournament.

Ultimately higher free throw and three-point shooting percentages could have turned the match result from a loss to a win for LBSU. Long Beach State led at the half, 43-38 in a faster paced match, whereas the second half was a slower tempo affair with fouls, turnovers, and free throws dictating the outcome. LBSU outrebounded the Guachos by only six and turned the ball over three more times than UC Santa Barbara.

The Guachos had four players scoring in double digits. Two Guachos had double-doubles with AJ Mitchell scoring 17 points and dishing out 10 assists as well as Andre Kelly scoring 14 points and grabbing 10 boards. Miles Norris and Josh Pierre-Louis chipped in with 13 points each.

Aboubacar Traore had the best all-around performance with a double-double and led all scorers with 18 points, 10 rebounds, and six assists for Long Beach State. Lassina Traore contributed 16 points and nine rebounds.

UP NEXT: Long Beach State (14-11, 8-5) faces CSU Bakersfield (9-15, 5-8) on Saturday, February 11 at 7 p.m. at the Icardo Center, Bakersfield, California. Live coverage on ESPN +.

Long Beach State outlasts UC Irvine in OT, Extends Big West Conference Six-Game Win Streak

2/5/2023

Jason R. Aula

(Photo credit: John Fajardo, Long Beach State Athletics)

LOS ANGELES, California — Black and Blue Rivalry presented by Duke's of Huntington Beach resulted in Long Beach State (14-10, 8-4) defeating UC Irvine (15-8, 8-3) 93-88 in overtime with 2361 in attendance at the Walter Pyramid on Saturday night.

Lassina Traore had his sixth straight double-double with 16 points and 20 rebounds. Long Beach State had four players scoring in double figures, with Marcus Tsohonis leading all scorers with 28 points and five assists. Aboubacar Traore added 16 points and Jadon Jones chipped in 10 points.

The Anteaters also had only four players scoring in double digits. Pierre Crockwell, II had the best all-around performance with 10 points, 10 assists, and two steals. DJ Davis had 19 points and Devin Tellis added 12 points. Dawson Baker led the Anteaters with 28 points, five rebounds, and four steals.

UC Irvine got into foul trouble but hustled on defense to makeup small losses throughout the match. Long Beach State outrebounded UC Irvine by 19 but did not shoot well from the charity strike causing an overtime period to be necessary.

UP NEXT: Long Beach State (14-10, 8-4) faces UC Santa Barbara (18-4, 9-2) on Thursday, February 9 at 8 p.m. at the Walter Pyramid, Long Beach, California. Live coverage on ESPNU.

Long Beach State wins close battle with Fullerton, 70-67

2/2/2023

Jason R. Aula

(Photo credit: Katie Anderson | Cal State Fullerton Athletics)

LOS ANGELES, California — Longtime rivals Fullerton and Long Beach State are both poised to compete for the Big West Conference tournament championship and the included NCAA tournament berth this season and perhaps may meet again in the conference tournament this season. Marcus Tsohonis led Long Beach State (13-10, 7-4) with 21 points in defeating Fullerton (12-12, 6-6) 70-67 with 2445 in attendance at Titan Gym on Thursday night.

The Titans had only two players scoring in double digits. Max Jones led Fullerton with 19 points and Latrell Wrightsell, Jr. added 18 points. The Titans were out hustled by Long Beach State in general as well as in the steals and blocks categories despite homecourt advantage.

Lassina Traore had another double-double with 10 points and 17 rebounds his fifth straight. Long Beach State outrebounded the Titans by 15 and had acceptable shooting percentage in each shot category.

UP NEXT: Long Beach State (13-10, 7-4) faces UC Irvine (15-7, 8-2) on Saturday, February 4 at 4 p.m. at the Walter Pyramid, Long Beach, California. Live coverage on ESPN +.