Long Beach State Wins According to Plan : Basketball: Greenberg said his team would do better and it did, beating Montana, 79-69.

March isn’t all that far away, but Long Beach State might prove its coach right yet.

After the 49ers were upset in their last game, Coach Seth Greenberg vowed his team would be good by the time college basketball’s all-important month arrived. The improvement process apparently has begun, as the 49ers looked impressive at times in defeating Montana, 79-69, Wednesday night in front of 4,489 at The Pyramid.

“This was a great win . . . we needed this,” Greenberg said to his team. “This feels a lot better than the last time we were in the locker room.”

That would be Dec. 6, following a 64-58 loss to lowly Cal State Northridge at Northridge.

No such problems this time.

Long Beach (3-1) shot 54% and held Montana (6-3) to 40%.

“The way they play defense was the difference,” Montana Coach Blaine Taylor said.

Starting point guard Rasul Salahuddin led the 49er defense. Salahuddin, who entered the game with a team-leading 15 steals, had three against Montana along with eight points and nine assists. He made only four turnovers compared to seven against Northridge.

“This was probably the best we’ve been offensively,” Greenberg said. “We were patient.”

Still, Long Beach’s lead was only 57-51 when Montana forward Matt Kempfert scored with 6 minutes 57 seconds left in the game. But Long Beach’s senior leaders stepped up and and Montana couldn’t keep pace.

Point guard Tye Mays, playing his first game after being ineligible during the fall semester, scored four points on a three-point goal and free throw in 15 seconds to boost the 49ers’ lead to 67-57 with 4:29 left. Forward Mike Atkinson, the 49ers’ leading scorer, sealed the victory with 3:45 to go on a three-point play that gave Long Beach its biggest lead, 70-57.

Atkinson played most of the game with three fouls and scored 15 of his game-high 19 points in the second half.

“I looked up with about (11 minutes) left in the first half and all of a sudden I have three fouls,” Atkinson said. “I knew we needed some some senior leadership, so I just tried not to pick up any stupid ones in the second half.”

He picked up only one more.

Swingman Jamie Davis’ three-point shot gave Long Beach a 40-31 lead with 15:56 to play in the game. Then Davis, inserted into the starting lineup at shooting guard this week, put the 49ers’ ahead, 44-33, about two minutes later with a 15-foot baseline jumper.

Davis finished with 15 points.

Shawn Samuelson and Shane Belnap each led the Grizzlies with 13 points.

Greenberg suspended starting power forward Terrance O’Kelley for the game because of his academic performance. Center Joe McNaull picked up the slack with 10 points and 10 rebounds.

“This is the best I’ve played by far,” McNaull said. “I’m real happy. This is a good stepping stone for me.”

Long Beach led, 33-27, at halftime and appeared to have a better grasp of Greenberg’s motion offense that it did against Northridge.

Redshirt freshman forward Akeli Jackson had nine points and four rebounds, giving the 49ers a major boost as a reserve.

Jackson scored seven points and grabbed three rebounds in the first half. His three-point play with 8:46 to go before halftime gave Long Beach a 21-16 lead.

The Grizzlies cut the lead to 27-25 with 5:00 to play on starting center Nate Covill’s lone basket of the half. But Montana managed only two more first-half points. Long Beach took it’s biggest, 33-25, on two free throws by reserve guard Everett Ratleff.