Jason R. Aula
(Photo credit: Big West Conference)
LOS ANGELES, California — Long Beach State (19-11, 12-3 Big West Conference) advanced to the Big West Conference tournament semifinal with a 72-61, win against CSU Bakersfield (8-19, 2-12 Big West Conference) Thursday afternoon at the Dollar Loan Center in Henderson, Nevada. The tourney is the 6000 seat Dollar Loan Center's first event, which cost the City of Henderson $84 million to construct. The Dollar Loan Center is the host of the Big West Conference Tournament through 2025.
“Two more to go,” Murray said. “Bakersfield got some great looks early, but we just stayed together. We know if we take care of the ball and avoid turnovers, we can play the way we want to."
LBSU's Joel Murray had the best all-around performance leading all scorers with 25 points plus four assists and three rebounds. Ninth-seeded CSU Bakersfield led by as many as five points during the first half and top-seed LBSU needed a full court press to yield a 34-31 lead at the half.
“There’s a lot of trust on this team. We always go over our mistakes after a play and regroup as a team, and the coaches allow us to play through our mistakes,” Murray said.
The Roadrunner's were led by Justin McCall who scored 19 points and Cameron Smith chipped in 14 points.
“We knew we weren’t playing at the pace we wanted,” Roberts said. “Once we got into our game, we started going on runs.”
The senior from Bakersfield, Jordan Roberts added 16 points for Long Beach State. Big West Conference player of the year Colin Slater was limited to only seven shot attempts and only scored five points. Long Beach State is only two wins away from its first NCAA Tournament appearance in 10 years.
“I told the guys I’m giving them all of May to rest,” he said with a grin,” said Monson.
Coach Dan Monson is in his 15th season as Long Beach State's head coach and was named the 2021-2022 Big West Conference coach of the year.
UP NEXT: Long Beach State continues on with the Big West Conference Tournament semifinal Friday against UC Santa Barbara (17-10, 8-5 Big West Conference) at 6pm in the Dollar Loan Center in Henderson, Nevada with coverage on ESPN 3.
“Two more to go,” Murray said. “Bakersfield got some great looks early, but we just stayed together. We know if we take care of the ball and avoid turnovers, we can play the way we want to."
LBSU's Joel Murray had the best all-around performance leading all scorers with 25 points plus four assists and three rebounds. Ninth-seeded CSU Bakersfield led by as many as five points during the first half and top-seed LBSU needed a full court press to yield a 34-31 lead at the half.
“There’s a lot of trust on this team. We always go over our mistakes after a play and regroup as a team, and the coaches allow us to play through our mistakes,” Murray said.
The Roadrunner's were led by Justin McCall who scored 19 points and Cameron Smith chipped in 14 points.
“We knew we weren’t playing at the pace we wanted,” Roberts said. “Once we got into our game, we started going on runs.”
The senior from Bakersfield, Jordan Roberts added 16 points for Long Beach State. Big West Conference player of the year Colin Slater was limited to only seven shot attempts and only scored five points. Long Beach State is only two wins away from its first NCAA Tournament appearance in 10 years.
“I told the guys I’m giving them all of May to rest,” he said with a grin,” said Monson.
Coach Dan Monson is in his 15th season as Long Beach State's head coach and was named the 2021-2022 Big West Conference coach of the year.
UP NEXT: Long Beach State continues on with the Big West Conference Tournament semifinal Friday against UC Santa Barbara (17-10, 8-5 Big West Conference) at 6pm in the Dollar Loan Center in Henderson, Nevada with coverage on ESPN 3.
(Photo credit: Stephen Dachman, Long Beach Post)
RSS Feed
