In a season where Long Beach State men’s basketball overcame obstacle after obstacle, the team found themselves facing the end of a memorable season as The Beach lost in the first round of the National Invitation Tournament (NIT) against BYU in Provo Utah.
BYU won Wednesday’s game with a final score of 93-72 as the three-point shot was the difference-maker for the Cougars.
Early in the game, The Beach came out hot as the team had their largest lead of the night with five points by the 11-minute mark of the first half.
In the first half, LBSU had four players with double-digit points as Joel Murray, Jadon Jones, Jordan Roberts, and big west player of the year Colin Slater were all on a scoring frenzy in the first.
As the first half was ending, BYU’s Alex Barcello and the Cougars were gaining loads of momentum just after he shot a three-pointer that erupted the crowd.
The Cougars would be trailing The Beach 43-41, but Slater would respond to Barcello and the Cougars with a three-point shot of his own which left the BYU crowd silent in Provo.
The Beach finished the half leading 46-41 as Slater led the team in scoring with 13 points.
When the second half began, that’s when things started to go south for The Beach. Slater ended up with his fourth foul of the night early in the second half.
Slater sat out most of the second half until the 9-minute mark when he returned. But right when the 5-minute mark came, Slater fouled out and The Beach was losing 83-64.
Without Slater playing for The Beach and the team’s lack of aggressive play, they found themselves victims of BYU’s three-point shot performance as the Cougars went on a 21-0 run.
BYU’s Caleb Lohner led the Cougars in scoring tonight with a 20-point performance.
While The Beach was without Slater tonight, they relied heavily on senior guard Joel Murray. He finished the night with 24 points scored. Despite his best efforts, it wasn’t enough as The Beach let the night slip away from their hands.
The team and head coach Dan Monson were unavailable for comment after the game