49er Men to Open Season in Hawaii : Basketball: Three high-scoring starters return from last year’s team, but the point guard spot is unclear.

After a pair of exhibition victories, Cal State Long Beach opens its men’s basketball season at 8:05 p.m. Friday against the University of Tulsa in the Hawaii Tip-Off Tournament in Honolulu.

In the tournament’s other game, the host Rainbows meet UC San Diego at 10:15 p.m. The consolation game is scheduled at 8:05 p.m. Sunday, with the final slated to begin at 10:15 p.m.

Long Beach, 18-12 last season, returns three starters who accounted for almost 60% of the team’s scoring a year ago. If exhibition games are any indication, the trio will do even more scoring this season.

Power forward Bryon Russell has been the most impressive of the three so far. The 6-foot-7 senior from San Bernardino scored 30 points and had 12 rebounds Nov. 16 in a 98-91 win over a club team from Melbourne, Australia. In a 113-81 victory over High Five America on Nov. 25, Russell scored 24 points and grabbed 12 rebounds.

Senior guard Lucious Harris, a 6-5 four-year starter who is expected to become the 49ers’ career scoring leader later this season, tallied 43 points in the exhibition games, shooting 16 of 33 from the field.

Chris Tower, a 6-10 senior center, scored 12 and 17 points respectively, but managed only eight rebounds.

Junior Rod Hannibal, a 6-5 swingman who started 12 games last season, scored 21 points in both games and grabbed 11 rebounds against High Five America. More importantly, Hannibal, who struggled with ball control last season, committed just three turnovers in about 30 minutes of play in each game.

Long Beach is still looking for a point guard to replace the graduated Bobby Sears. Six-foot junior Jeff Rogers got the nod in the exhibition contests. He scored only five points in the exhibitions but tallied 12 assists.

“What I want from Jeff is leadership,” said Long Beach Coach Seth Greenberg. “I don’t need him to score.”

Also vying for the spot is Ty Mays, a 6-2 transfer from Paris Junior College in Texas. Brian Camper, a 6-4 junior transfer from Arizona State, will see plenty of action at the point, according to Greenberg. But Camper will not be eligible to play in the Hawaii tournament because he is serving a penalty for violating NCAA rules at Arizona State, where he charged more than $700 in telephone calls to an assistant coach’s credit card. He has since repaid the debt but was suspended for four games (the exhibitions and two games in Hawaii) by the NCAA.

Tulsa, 17-13 last year, has a veteran club. Senior guard Mark Morris and junior forward Gary Collier were chosen to the all-Missouri Valley Conference preseason team in a vote of coaches. Morris led the Golden Hurricane in scoring (13.9), assists (5.1) and steals (2.2) average last season. Collier led the team in rebounding (5.6) and ranked second in scoring (13.4).

“Tulsa is a very good basketball team,” Greenberg said. “We have to contain Morris, and they have (Collier), who will present some matchup problems for Russell.”

Long Beach plays its home opener at 2 p.m. Dec. 12 against Southern California College of Costa Mesa.