Men's Basketball, Men's Sports, Sports

Anteaters eat away at 49ers’ Big West title hopes

IRVINE — For about 30 minutes, it looked like the Long Beach State men’s basketball team would hold on for a win over conference title favorite UC Irvine at the Anteaters’ Bren Events Center.

The final 10 minutes didn’t go the 49ers’ way, though, and UCI erased a five-point deficit on its way to a 61-59 win.

Two days later, LBSU got back to its winning ways, taking down UC Riverside, 88-76, on the road.

The 49ers (10-13, 6-3 Big West) started their weekend faced with the task of taking down the Anteaters (16-9, 7-2 Big West) on their home court. With the rivals tied for first place in the Big West, the game promised to be a battle. It lived up to the hype, as LBSU and UCI went back-and-forth all the way through the first half.

Thanks to 10 points by Dan Jennings, the 49ers and Anteaters went into the locker room tied at 31.

It was more of the same in the second half, as neither team could get separation for the first 10 minutes.

It wasn’t until the 9:31 mark that the 49ers had a two-possession lead, as a layup by A.J. Spencer put them up 49-44 for their biggest lead of the game.

The celebration was short-lived, though, as the 49er offense hit a lull, thanks in part to 7-foot-6 UCI center Mamadou Ndiaye. Ndiaye got blocks on consecutive LBSU possessions, part of a defensive effort that earned him a conference record 11 blocks.

It wasn’t long before the UCI offense got going as well. The Anteaters went on a 12-0 run over the next three minutes, erasing the 49ers’ five-point lead and giving them a seven-point deficit instead.

“We didn’t execute very good in the last eight minutes,” head coach Dan Monson said. “We got very tentative against the zone and didn’t attack.”

LBSU got back into it over the last five minutes, working the score back to 58-57 in favor of UCI with 1:24 to go.

The Anteaters’ Luke Nelson added to an already spectacular game, though, hitting a clutch jumper on his way to a game-high and career-high 28 points.

Despite having a couple chances to make up the difference, the 49ers couldn’t tie the game and force overtime. A 3-point attempt by Tyler Lamb at the buzzer bounced off the rim, leaving the 49ers with  61-58 loss.

LBSU has now lost both regular season games to the Anteaters but by a combined five points.

“If we play them in the tournament, it bodes to be two pretty even teams,” Monson said.

Two days later, the 49ers traveled to Riverside to face the Highlanders (8-15, 3-6 Big West). They got out to a comfortable lead early and held onto it for most of the game.

The only scare came with 8:27 to go, as a jumper by UCR’s Chris Patton made it 69-66. The 49ers then went on a 10-0 run, though, putting the Highlanders away for good.

Next up for the 49ers is a homestand against UC Santa Barbara and Cal Poly.

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