49ers Play Total Game, Rout Utah State, 93-66

Cal State Long Beach found out Thursday night how to put a team away.

The 49ers made Utah State a 93-66 victim in a classic case of putting it all together and claimed sole possession of second place in the Pacific Coast Athletic Assn.

The score was 34-34 at halftime and a blowout was the last thing a crowd of 1,311 in the university gym expected.

But for the first 12 minutes of the second half, Long Beach outscored the Aggies, 42-9.

Propelling the 49ers with his speed, shooting and passing was guard Tony Ronzone, who scored 9 of Long Beach’s first 16 points in the second half. By then it was 50-36, and Long Beach Coach Ron Palmer was smiling and clapping.

“We were playing basketball ,” he said. “The way it should be played.”

The 49ers made 63% of their second-half shots, which enabled them to show a killer instinct they have lacked most of the season.

“We learned an important lesson tonight--to keep pounding when we’re up on a team,” said Ronzone, who finished with 16 points. “A lot of times this season we’ve had big leads and then gone in the tank.”

The 49ers (11-10 overall, 6-3 in the PCAA), also got strong games from Morlon Wiley (22 points), DeAnthony Langston (16 points, 4 blocked shots), John Hoffman (14 points) and Andre Purry (10 rebounds).