After a slow first-half start that led to a tightly fought matchup at the Walter Pyramid, 2,326 fans witnessed a thrilling rival showdown as Long Beach State’s second-half resurgence fell short in the final minute, resulting in a 76-71 loss to Fullerton on Thursday night.
“It was a disappointing loss, especially because we didn’t play well early,” head coach Dan Monson said. “I didn’t think we played with energy.”
Fullerton’s recent struggles amplified The Beach’s ‘disappointing loss,’ having lost six of its last seven games leading up to the matchup.
The defining factor of The Beach’s sluggish start was their inconsistency from the floor, shooting 21.4% (3-for-14) from three and 32.3% overall in the first half. Fullerton took advantage of the slow start from Long Beach, jumping to a 16-point lead with four minutes to go until the half.
After a crucial media timeout, The Beach sparked an 8–0 run that was capped off by a buzzer-beating three from junior guard Jadon Jones to cut their deficit to eight going into halftime.
Jones was one of four Beach players to score in double figures, finishing with a team-high 23 points on 5-of-12 (41.6%) shooting from three and 8-of-17 (47%) overall.
The first-half finish sparked momentum in The Beach’s favor that carried over into the second half as it went on a 14-2 run within the first five minutes.
This resulted in The Beach’s biggest lead of eight points, which would end up short-lived after their momentum was shifted when junior forward Aboubacar Traore’s offensive foul was changed to a flagrant two.
The play went into review after he inadvertently hit a Titan player fighting for position in the post, which caused him to bleed, stopping play and finally resulting in an ejection for Traore with 8:47 left.
Traore finished four assists shy of a triple-double tallying 10 points, 11 rebounds (five offensive rebounds) and six assists.
With The Beach already without leading scorer (17.1 ppg) senior guard Marcus Tsohonis due to a groin injury, they couldn’t afford to miss another key contributor.
“With Marcus [Tsohonis] out and him [Aboubacar] out, we just had some odd lineups out there,” Monson said.
The lineup down the stretch included in-and-out substitutions at the point guard position from senior guards Messiah Thompson and Isa Silva, with a mix of freshman Varick Lewis and redshirt freshman Jason Hart Jr.
In the final five minutes with the score reading 68–64 in favor of the Titans, The Beach rallied back behind a game-tying three from Thompson to even the score at 68 apiece.
The Beach would commit fouls on each possession for the remainder of the contest, allowing Fullerton to secure the win at the free-throw line.
Junior forward Lassina Traore and sophomore guard A.J. George were the remaining players to score in double digits, with Traore having 12 points and 12 rebounds and George had 15 points and six rebounds.
“It’s always better to learn from winning. Winning breeds winning,” Monson said. “I believe in this team. I think this team can win this tournament, but we’ve got to play more consistent. We show stretches that we can play with anybody in this league.”
The Beach will look to bounce back in its next matchup on the road against UC Irvine on Saturday, March. 2, at 7 p.m. at the Bren Events Center.