49ers Win Date With Indiana

Assembly Hall was nearly empty by the time Cal State Long Beach wrapped up its fourth consecutive victory, 68-47, over the University of New Hampshire Friday night in the Indiana Classic.

Most of the game was played before only a few hundred quiet fans, those that remained from a crowd of 13,702 that had watched Indiana defeat South Alabama, 96-67, in the opening game.

The atmosphere will be different tonight when the 49ers and 14th-ranked Indiana, both undefeated, meet in the championship game. The Hoosiers, who have a Classic record of 31-0, will be trying to win the tournament for the 16th year in a row.

Long Beach, scoring in spurts, led all the way against New Hampshire, which shot only 36.7% from the field. But the 49ers made 19 turnovers, 15 in the second half. And their five steals were 10 below their average.

“We were somewhat lethargic,” Long Beach Coach Joe Harrington said. “It was probably hard for us to get up, we might have been looking ahead to Indiana. I think we felt we could turn it on anytime we wanted. The small crowd didn’t bother us, we always play in front of small crowds.”

The 49ers had a difficult time pulling away from the Wildcats until guard Lucious Harris scored five points in the last six seconds of the first half. After hitting a three-point shot, he stole the ball and made a layup at the buzzer to make the halftime lead, 36-22.

The Wildcats never got closer than 13 points in the second half.

All 13 players scored for Long Beach, which was led by guard Tyrone Mitchell, who scored 11 points, and forward Frankie Edwards, who had 10.

Bryant Davis scored 11 points to lead New Hampshire, which fell to 1-3.

In the first game, Indiana (5-0) outscored South Alabama, 53-33, in the second half. Calbert Cheaney, one of four starting freshmen for the Hoosiers, scored 20 points.

“I think we’ve escalated our play in each game,” said Hoosier Coach Bob Knight, whose team is 5-0. Indiana shot 56% from the field and had a 49-26 rebounding advantage over the 2-3 Jaguars.

“Indiana looked strong,” Harrington said. “They pass the ball well and play good defense. I think it will be a great experience for us, playing in a championship game before a full, hostile house.”