Long Beach Is 70-62 Winner

Bobby Sears scored 18 points Saturday, and Cal State Long Beach blew a big lead before using a late run to beat Stephen F. Austin, 70-62.

CS Long Beach (4-3) led, 34-20, at halftime, but the Lumberjacks (3-3) stormed back with a 21-9 run early in the second half to close within 54-50 with 7:31 to play. Austin took its first lead since the opening seconds, 59-58, with 5:34 to play on Nathan Randall’s layup.

“I chastised them and got on them a little at halftime,” Stephen F. Austin Coach Ned Fowler said. “We played one of our better halves in the second half, but we made three or four crucial mistakes down the stretch that kept us from going ahead.”

The 49ers retook the lead and the stretched it to 62-59 with 3:33 left when Austin’s Chris Zivney shot a three-pointer that bounced away. Cal State Long Beach’s Chris Tower and Austin’s Jack Little traded baskets, but the 49ers were on a 12-3 run that would give them the victory.

Lucious Harris and Tower had 15 points each for the 49ers.