The Long Beach State men’s basketball team’s dominant night on the boards led to a comfortable victory to extend its win streak to two.
In a lopsided affair, LBSU (11-12, 5-2 Big West) defeated Cal Poly (6-14, 1-5 Big West) 87-71 with the help of senior forward Gabe Levin’s 21 points and eight rebounds.
Four players on the 49ers scored in double figures including junior forward Temidayo Yussuf and junior guard Deishuan Booker who each contributed 17 points, while freshmen guard Edon Maxhuni had 14.
“Coming to play at Poly is tough and it feels great that our guys came out and played hard,” associate head coach Rod Palmer said on 22 West Radio. “We were aggressive on the glass and we outrebounded them early on.”
The 49ers finished the night with 44 rebounds compared to the Mustangs’ 29. Long Beach continued to crash the offensive class, grabbing 16 offensive rebounds which led to 19 second-chance points.
Head coach Dan Monson contributed the start of the teams success to the pairing of Levin and Yussuf who have consistently played well together.
“To see them finally get to play together, it’s great to watch them play off of each other,” Monson said via LBSUhoops on Twitter.
The 49ers have lacked an identity since the beginning of the season, but have focused on being the best defensive team they can be. Long Beach was disruptive in the full court setting and forced Cal Poly into 14 turnovers while collecting 10 steals.
“We didn’t allow them to catch it in the corner which worked to our favor,” Palmer said on 22 West Radio.
Junior guard Bryan Alberts made his return tonight playing 18 minutes off the bench for three points. It was a rough return for Alberts who shot 1 of 6 from the field, but it was a good first step in inserting him back into the lineup.
“He’s such a calming figure on the floor, even though he didn’t have a great night all his shots looked great,” Palmer said on 22 West Radio.
Long Beach looks to extend its win streak on Saturday at 7 p.m. to take on Northridge in the Matadome.