CS Long Beach Beats Bradley, Perhaps Turns a Corner, 80-74

Cal State Long Beach won a basketball game Wednesday night, and the manner in which the 49ers did it took away much of the pain of two futile seasons.

The 49ers overcame an eight-point deficit in the last five minutes to defeat Bradley, 80-74, before a crowd of 1,528 at the campus gym.

And for the first time since Ron Palmer took over as coach in 1984, the 49ers looked like a team with ability and confidence.

“This is where we finally start to turn the corner,” said Palmer, who was 4-23 and 7-22 in his first two seasons after coming to the 49ers from Long Beach Poly High School. “We’re a good club; we’ve got good players. Now I feel like we’re going to win games. I haven’t felt that way since I’ve been here.”

Bradley led, 71-63, and its coach, Stan Albeck, was starting to feel comfortable after watching his team trail for most of the game.

But the 49ers, capitalizing on turnovers, raced back behind center DeAnthony Langston and guard Tony Ronzone.

A jump shot by Ronzone, who redshirted last year after transferring from Nevada Reno, tied the game at 74-74, then Langston hit from the side to put Long Beach ahead for good.

When Bradley’s Anthony Manuel missed a three-point attempt with 19 seconds left, Langston grabbed the rebound, was fouled and made both free throws to assure the 49ers of their second win in four games.

The comeback impressed Albeck, who is winless in three games after coming to Bradley from the National Basketball Assn.

“Long Beach played a very intelligent game down the stretch,” Albeck said.

No one had said that about the 49ers in a long time.

The 49ers were led by Morlon Wiley with 20 points. Ronzone had 15 and Langston 14.

Bradley guard Hersey Hawkins, who had been averaging 34.5 points a game, scored 32 points and had 10 rebounds.