In one of its best shooting nights of the season, the Long Beach State men’s basketball team lost its third conference game, 74-72, against UC Riverside on the road Saturday night.
LBSU (9-12, 3-3) shot 54.2 percent from the field, its best shooting performance since shooting 55.4 percent in an 80-77 win over Seton Hall on Nov. 19, 2015. However, the 49ers allowed the Highlanders (11-11, 2-4) to have their second best shooting night of the season as well; UCR shot 51 percent from the floor.
Sophomore guard Justin Bibbins hit one of his two free-throws with 2:10 left to tie the game at 72. A few possession changes later, senior forward Taylor Johns made a jumper to put UCR ahead by two with 53 seconds to go.
LBSU’s sophomore forward Gabe Levin missed a layup attempt with 36 seconds to go, and UCR junior forward Secean Johnson corralled the rebound, sealing the Highlanders’ first win against the 49ers in 13 matchups.
The Highlanders overcame a 13-point, first-half deficit and managed to cut LBSU’s lead down to 38-37 at the half. Johns scored 18 of his game-high 26 points in the second half.
Levin finished as the 49ers leading scorer with 20 points on nine of 12 shooting. Bibbins followed up his career-high of 25 points against UC Santa Barbara last Thursday with 14 points on Saturday.
The 49ers return home to host UC Santa Barbara next. Tip off is at 7:30 p.m. inside the Walter Pyramid.