The last time Long Beach State saw Pacific at the other end of the floor, the Tigers were celebrating a berth in the Big West Conference tournament championship game last March.
On Wednesday night, the 49ers had to re-live that nightmare all over again.
LBSU (12-14, 6-7 Big West Conference) couldn’t find an answer for Pat Eveland as they fell to Pacific, 74-52, in front of 2,391 spectators at the Walter Pyramid.
The junior, who averaged seven points per game coming into the contest, stifled every 49er attempt to get back into the game as he poured it on with 23 points. Eveland converted on all five of his 3-point attempts.
The 49ers were able to score in spurts to get close at many junctures during the game, but poor shot selection and turnovers hampered any thought of a comeback.
“This is a team that cares, but they don’t know how to change it and they’re grasping for answers,” head coach Dan Monson said after emerging from a 90-minute team meeting. “We really broke down the last 10 minutes. … that’s the most unacceptable thing to me.”
Eugene Phelps finished with 13 points for The Beach on 5-of-12 shooting and seven rebounds, while T.J. Robinson added 11 points in just 19 minutes of play.
Pacific (17-8, 9-3 Big West) limited the 49ers to just 37.5 percent shooting for the game and just 22.2 percent from 3-point range.
While Pacific’s defense was the key to its victory, the Tigers’ offense earned them the large margin in the win.
The Tigers shot 53.1 percent from the floor as a team and converted 10-of-19 3-point attempts. In addition to Eveland’s 23, Pacific also received contributions from Sam Willard with 16 points and Demetrece Young with eight.
The Tigers aren’t known to overwhelm opponents with their size or speed, but they have been able to remain a Big West favorite year-in and year-out. Pacific’s sometimes dull playing style has been effective though as the team came into the contest in 2nd place in the Big West.
Pacific showed why it was in that position late in the second half when the Tigers caused a few turnovers that turned into points. During one stretch, the Tigers turned a 12-point lead into a 19-point lead in less than two minutes with the help of takeaways.
“Pacific feasts on teams that aren’t playing with confidence and they’re very efficient in what they do,” Monson said.
After that stretch, with nearly five minutes left in the game, a handful of fans even headed to the exits.
“As a coach you can coach them when they’re still fighting, but we didn’t fight the last 10 minutes.” Monson said. “That is the thing that we’re trying to address as a team and how that happened.”
The Tigers began to showcase their defensive prowess in the first half as they held the 49ers to just 26 points. LBSU started the contest on a 5-0 run, but Eveland knocked down open looks to put Pacific ahead.
The five-point lead was the largest that The Beach had during the game.
Eveland hit a 3-pointer to give Pacific its biggest lead of the half at 13 points with just over four minutes remaining. The 49ers went on an 8-2 run to end the half with a seven-point deficit.
The Beach will now head to Monson’s alma mater, the University of Idaho, to take on the Vandals (12-12) in Moscow, Idaho at 5:30 p.m. on Saturday as part of ESPNU’s BracketBusters.
LBSU won’t be at the Pyramid again until March 5 when it hosts UC Riverside in an FSN West-televised game to wrap up Big West play.