Long Beach State Rolls Past American, 96-74

Andre Purry scored 26 points and Morlon Wiley added 20, leading lead Long Beach State to a lopsided 96-74 decision over American University Monday night.

The victory earned the 49ers a split of their two-game trip to the Washington area. Long Beach (5-2) had lost Saturday afternoon to No. 19-ranked Georgetown.

Long Beach started slowly against American, missing 12 of its first 18 shots and falling behind, 21-12 with 9:49 remaining in the first half. After a timeout, the 49ers scored 18 unanswered points to open a 30-21 lead.

American made only one shot from the floor in the final 9:49 of the first half and the Eagles first field goal of the second half came with 14:04 remaining, after Long Beach had opened a 56-29 lead.

Holmes led the 3-4 Eagles with a career high 25 points and 15 rebounds. The sophomore forward was the only AU player to score in the final 9:49 of the first half.