Hofstra No Match for Long Beach

Cal State Long Beach found the shooting touch it had lost earlier in the week in Las Vegas and defeated Hofstra University, 89-69, in a nonconference game before 1,920 fans in the 49er gym Thursday night.

Long Beach shot 54.7% from the field in the easy victory, a big improvement over the 27.5% the 49ers shot Tuesday night in a 78-58 loss to Nevada Las Vegas. Long Beach Coach Joe Harrington had said that no team he had ever coached had shot worse than the 49ers did in that game.

But against Hofstra, the 49ers, who improved their overall record to 7-2, made nine of their first 12 shots, including four jump shots beyond 15 feet. They had made only two outside shots at Las Vegas.

“It’s easier to shoot in your own gym,” Harrington said. “I was pleased we came back so aggressively after losing Tuesday night.”

The 49ers were led in scoring by guards Lucious Harris and Bobby Sears, each of whom scored 14 points. Sears started in place of Tyrone Mitchell because Mitchell had been late to practice Wednesday.

Before six minutes were gone in the game, Long Beach was ahead, 19-5.

“I heard Long Beach wasn’t a good shooting team, but in the first half you could have fooled me,” said Hofstra Coach Butch van Breda Kolff, who coached the Lakers in the late 1960s.

Hofstra, of Hempstead, N.Y., fell to 3-6. Asked how Long Beach compared with St. John’s, to whom Hofstra lost by 11 points earlier in the season, van Breda Kolff said, “If they played here, St. John’s would be in trouble.”

The 49ers are 4-0 at home.

Long Beach led, 40-18, at halftime, and increased the advantage to 55-24 with about 15 minutes left.