Men's Basketball, Men's Sports, Sports

49ers go without a win in Puerto Rico

The Long Beach State men’s basketball team can’t seem to get a win, no matter if it’s on the United States mainland or in Puerto Rico.

The 49ers lost to No. 14 Michigan, No. 10 Virginia Commonwealth and Kansas State this weekend in the Puerto Rico Tip-Off. They have now lost six in a row since beating Hawaii-Pacific in their season opener.

Michigan 85, LBSU 61

LBSU (1-6) opened the tournament Thursday with a loss to the 14th-ranked Wolverines despite being within 10 points of the lead with nine minutes to go.

Michigan (3-1) started the game going up 6-0 with threes from Derrick Walton Jr. and Glenn Robinson III. The scores would set a trend for the game, as the Wolverines ended up making a tournament record 14 3-pointers.

The 49ers stayed close early on, cutting the Wolverine lead to 17-14 midway through the first half. Michigan then went on a 15-0 run, though, and closed the first half up 42-29.

LBSU battled to keep the game within reach to start the second, and a breakaway dunk by David Samuels at the 9:04 mark got the ‘Niners back within nine points at 61-52. A

Michigan three by Nik Stauskas on the next play kept the 49ers from getting any closer, though, and the Wolverines cruised to a win.

“[They have] so many weapons offensively,” LBSU head coach Dan Monson told ESPN. “We didn’t have an answer to slow them down on that end of the floor.”

VCU 73, LBSU 67

LBSU came close to an upset of the 10th-ranked Rams, as it led by eight with 13 minutes to go.

Poor shooting down the stretch allowed VCU to go on a 13-0 run and take a 55-50 lead.

“I thought we controlled the tempo and were able to dictate the tempo for 35 minutes,” Monson said. “That’s all it took, just that two or three minutes against a team that dangerous, that explosive. Our margin for error was very small, and we used it in that three-minute thing, and we couldn’t get a rebound or that next play to get us back in it.”

The 49ers ultimately lost 73-67, but the game did hold a couple silver linings. For the first time this season, the 49ers led a ranked team. They also led at halftime for the first time since their season opener.

It was also a breakout performance for point guard Branford Jones, who scored a career-high 19 points.

Kansas State 52, LBSU 38

A week after meeting in Mahattan, Kansas, the 49ers and Wildcats (3-3) matched up again in the seventh-place game at the Puerto Rico Tip-Off.

The game was very different from last week’s 71-58 affair, but the result was the same, as Kansas State walked away with the victory.

Defense dominated the game, but so did sloppy offense. LBSU had a 3-to-12 assists-to-turnover ratio, and Kansas State had 23 turnovers.

The difference in the end was shooting, as the Wildcats made 47.6 percent of their field goals to the 49ers’ 19.6 percent.

Mike Caffey led the LBSU with 13 points, his third straight game with double-digit points totals.

The 49ers will come home to practice for the first time in more than a week, but they will be back on the road soon after. Following Thanksgiving, they will travel to Seattle for a game against Washington on Saturday.

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