49ers Capitalize on Fresno’s Technical Problem

A technical foul on Fresno State enabled Cal State Long Beach to break open a tight defensive struggle midway through the second half Thursday night and defeat the Bulldogs, 66-60, in a Big West Conference game before a sellout crowd of 1,936 in the university gym.

For 30 minutes, neither team--Long Beach with its pressure man-to-man defense and Fresno with its zone--gave an inch. Then with 9:56 left, 49er guard Kenny Jarvis was fouled while shooting by Chris Henderson. Henderson, before leaving with his fifth foul, got a technical for arguing.

It looked at first as though that wouldn’t be a break for Long Beach. Jarvis missed his two free throws, then Kevin Cutler missed the first technical shot, further enraging 49er Coach Joe Harrington.

But Cutler made the second shot and the 49ers, who retained possession, capitalized when freshman guard Lucious Harris swished a baseline jumper. That touched off a flurry from which Fresno never recovered.

It started when Harris made a diving steal and, while lying on the floor, passed to Jarvis for a layup. Frankie Edwards followed with another steal, which led to two free throws by Cutler. Then Harris made a three-point shot that climaxed the 10-0 run and put the 49ers ahead, 54-42. with 7:30 to play.

Harris led Long Beach, 9-2 overall and 2-1 in the Big West, with 16 points, six steals and five rebounds.

Fresno (5-6, 0-2) cut the lead to 58-51 when Bijou Baly, free of crowd distractions, made two free throws. “Where the hell’s the noise?” Harrington yelled, urging the fans by waving his arms.

The crowd never let up after that, cheering the loudest when Harris intercepted a pass with 2:36 to play and drove for an acrobatic scoop shot, which he made while being fouled. He converted the three-point play and the 49er lead was safely back to 63-51.