College Basketball Roundup : CS Long Beach Comes Up Short, 90-75

Andy Kennedy and Reginald Turner each scored 21 points to help Alabama Birmingham defeat Cal State Long Beach State, 90-75, Monday night at Birmingham, Ala.

The victory improved Alabama-Birmingham’s record to 7-2. The 49ers fell to 2-6.

The game was tied three times and the lead changed hands five times in the final 4 minutes of the first half. The teams were tied, 43-43, at halftime after the 49ers led by as many as 10.

In the second half, the lead switched three times. The teams were tied twice before the Blazers took the lead, 56-54, on a reverse layup by Jack Kramer with 13:21 to play.

The 49ers got within 1 point after a tip-in by John Hatten. But a hook shot by Alan Ogg put Alabama Birmingham ahead by 3 with 7:26 to play and the Blazers pulled away.

Dylan Howard scored 16 points for the Blazers while Ogg had 12 points and Barry Bearden 10.

Cal State Long Beach was led by Hatten’s 14 points. Rudy Harvey scored 12, Tyrone Mitchell 11 and Rolf Jacobs 10 for the 49ers.

Temple 50, Penn State 48--Mark Macon rebounded his own shot and connected on an 8-foot jumper with 1:03 left as the Owls defeated the Nittany Lions in an Atlantic 10 game at Philadelphia.

Duane Causwell blocked 10 shots to break Temple’s record of 9, which he tied earlier this month.

The victory was Temple’s 11th straight over Penn State and the Owls’ 27th in a row in the conference.

Temple (3-4 overall and 3-0 in conference), trailed, 45-42, after the Nittany Lions’ Bruce Blake made a free throw with 2:47 to play. The Owls’ Mike Vreeswyk then made five straight points to give Temple a 2-point edge, but Blake’s two free throws at 1:35 tied the score, 47-47.

After Macon made his crucial jumper, Blake was fouled with 2 seconds to play. He missed his first shot and attempted to miss his second, but the ball bounced off the backboard into the basket.

Shoun Randolph’s free throw for Temple with 1 second to play accounted for the final point.

The Owls scored the first nine points of the second half to take a 30-19 lead. Penn State then went on a 19-6 run, 11 of the points by Tom Hovasse, to move ahead, 38-36, with 8:11 left.

The Nittany Lions took their biggest lead of the game, 44-40, on two free throws by Blake at the 3:56 mark.

Vreeswyk had 19 points and Macon 18 for the Owls.

Hovasse’s 23 points for Penn State (4-3 and 0-1) gave him 1,010 in his 4-year college career.