After being down by 11 points, Long Beach State managed to execute a full team win over big west rival Cal State Fullerton.
The victory in tonight’s game against CSUF served as not only a battle for first place in the Big West but also as a milestone for LBSU head coach Dan Monson as he earned his 400th career victory tonight in a game that ended 71-61.
Following Tuesday’s game when asked about his career milestone, Monson stated that he was thankful to be in the position he is in and wanted to thank all the schools he has coached at for the opportunity.
“I just had great administrations that have supported me through the thick and the thin,” Monson said.
Early in the game, The Beach was down, exiting the first half with a score of 33-28. The Beach found themselves struggling to obtain offensive rebounds as they only had two through the first half.
When entering the first half tonight, The Beach found themselves executing a game plan that revolved around tempo control. Monson believed he was coaching the game on the more conservative side in the first half and started to execute an aggressive game plan in the second half.
“I was a little conservative on the pressing in the first half, I was worried about their transition,” Monson said. “We didn’t press much but I just felt a big play in the game that was really underrated was the first time we pressed in the second half, [Jadon Jones] turned and stole it and that made them cautious.”
The Beach was also led in scoring by senior guard Colin Slater (19) and freshman guard Jaydon Jones (15). Slater said that before tonight’s game he knew Jones was ready to have a big night.
“Every game Jadon goes into it, he wears his black Air Forces, he has a mentality,” Slater said. “So every time I see him bring those out, I’m like ‘Yeah Jadon I know what kind of day it’s about to be.’ It’s no surprise to us whenever he brings that same energy in the game.”
Senior forward Jordan Roberts was another key contributor to The Beach’s scoring as he had 13 points in Tuesday’s victory. Roberts matched Slater tonight with four assists.
Roberts explained that every game moving forward will be important for The Beach, but they need to focus on winning one at a time.
“Forget, watch the last game, just onto the next, take it one game at a time. That’s how we’re gonna go about it.” Roberts said.
The Beach will look to extend its winning streak to 10 games as they are scheduled to play at the University of Hawai’i on Thursday, Feb. 10.