In what was expected to be a close game between the Long Beach State men’s basketball team and former Big West rival Fresno State turned into a nightmare Saturday. The 49ers were blown out for a second consecutive game, losing 106-70 at the Walter Pyramid.
Slow starts have been a reoccurring problem this season for LBSU (3-6). Saturday’s lackluster start to the game proved too much for Long Beach to overcome. Fresno came out firing on all cylinders, leading 21-4 after the first eight minutes of the game.
Long Beach struggled to score against the Bulldogs’ pressure and lacked a sense of physicality on the defensive end. The team would trail by as much as 29 points throughout the first half, down 51-28 at the halftime break.
In the second half, the 49ers were never able to pull within 20 points. Junior forward Temidayo Yussuf led the team in scoring with 13 points in 14 minutes. Both junior point guard Deishuan Booker and sophomore guard Jordan Griffin contributed 11 points.
“Well that was obviously not just disappointing, it was embarrassing,” head coach Dan Monson said. “I really felt like we would come back today and have some energy with a good crowd, but unfortunately we didn’t have any of that.”
LBSU will have a quick turnaround after the blowout loss, hosting Stanford tomorrow at 2 p.m. The 49ers will need to re-evaluate themselves and come out with some intensity in order to make it a competitive game against the Cardinal.
“We’ve got to mentally get ourselves back, we played poorly today but we’re not as bad of a team as we were today,” Monson said.