Fresno State Edges CS Long Beach

Cal State Long Beach had just lost a 1-point game at one of the toughest places to win in the Big West Conference, but Coach Joe Harrington had no praise for his 49ers.

“We stunk,” Harrington said after Fresno State escaped with a 56-55 victory when a close-in shot by 49er Marco Fleming missed with 5 seconds to play Saturday night at Selland Arena. “I’m not proud of the way we played. I can’t think of one good thing about this game.”

The 49ers, with the chance to win here for the first time in 6 seasons, controlled the ball with 23 seconds left after Jervis Cole’s free throw had given Fresno the lead. They worked the ball around, finally getting it into Fleming, who had tied the score at 55-55 with a hook shot 39 seconds earlier.

“I got it down in the blocks, saw the middle was open, took a drop step and shot,” Fleming said of the last shot.

The ball hit the backboard, rolled around the rim and came out into the hands of Fresno’s Derrick Barden, who had been defending against Fleming.

“I told them during the timeout that if they got caught behind Fleming that Fleming is not a great jumper,” Fresno Coach Ron Adams said. “We tried to get up on the shot and just go straight up, and Derrick did. It was a great pressure play.”

Long Beach, which came back after trailing for most of the first half, made the game close despite off-nights by John Hatten, who had 6 points, and Darrell Faulkner, who had none. Both had been averaging almost 13 a game.

Harrington, who was particularly displeased with Faulkner, said, “I’m going to sit him down the next game.”

The defeat ended a 3-game winning streak for the 49ers, who are 6-8 overall and 3-2 in the Big West. Fresno is 8-5, 3-1.

After making only 33% of their shots in the first half, the 49ers hit 52% in the second half. With their press clicking, they scored the first 10 points of the final half to take a 35-27 lead.

Long Beach was ahead, 50-44, with 6:52 left. But then Fresno--and its crowd of 10,039--got back in the game. The Bulldogs scored the next 11 points, 4 each by Cole and Bijou Baly.

A 3-point shot by Tyrone Mitchell and Fleming’s hook tied it, but Cole, who led the Bulldogs with 17 points, made the second of 2 free throws after being fouled by Rudy Harvey while shooting from outside.

Long Beach’s defense and clutch shooting, especially by Jeff Eastin, who hit 3 3-point shots and led the 49ers with 13 points, impressed Adams.

“They’re the kind of team you can throw out the percentages when you play,” Adams said. “They’ve been shooting 42% (this season), but you watch them in given games and Eastin is hitting 3-point shots. I think they’re almost a better team than last (season), and it’s not from a standpoint of personnel. They’re pressing better and I think they played with a lot of intelligence.”

Harrington, though, begged to differ. “Horrible,” is how he put it.