Long Beach State Stays Close, but Comes Up Short : Basketball: Michigan State pulls away in second half to beat 49ers, 70-60, to win tournament title.

Long Beach State gave Michigan State a scare before falling, 70-60, in the championship game of the Spartan Classic Friday night at the Breslin Center.

It was hardly the blowout 15,138 green-and-white clad fans expected. The 15th-ranked Spartans had crushed Ball State, 117-95, the night before.

“I’m really proud of our team and how hard they played, especially defensively,” Long Beach State Coach Seth Greenberg said. “We just didn’t have quite enough offense. We knew had to improve offensively and we still have to improve offensively.”

The 49ers (4-2) shot 40% from the floor in the second half. It was the Spartans’ (7-1) fifth victory in a row and 12th straight victory in Classic games. But Long Beach earned some respect.

“They gave us a dose of what I like to call Big Ten defense,” Michigan State Coach Jud Heathcote said. “They switched on every screen, they pushed us around. They just played a hard-nosed defensive game.”

Shawn Respert, Michigan State’s All-American guard, can vouch for that. Respert was held to 21 points, six below his season average and 12 fewer than he scored against Ball State, on uncharacteristic six-of-13 shooting. Twelve of his points came in a two-minute spurt in the first half.

“They put so much pressure on the ballhandler, we couldn’t get the ball to Shawn for enough good shots,” Heathcote said. “That’s one of the better jobs I’ve seen a team do on Shawn.”

Junior guard Juaquin Hawkins, whom Greenberg has touted as “one of toughest defenders in the country,” shadowed Respert.Long Beach State even stayed with a much bigger Michigan State team on the boards, only giving up a 32-28 rebounding advantage.

Mike Atkinson, who at 6 feet 7 and 235 pounds, gave up three inches and almost 30 pounds to Jamie Feick, scored 17 points on seven-of-11 work from the field.

But no other 49er reached double figures. The starting back court of Rasul Salahuddin and Jamie Davis combined for four of 12 from the floor. Sophomore guard Everett Ratleff, the hero of the 49ers’ 69-63 victory Thursday night over Coppin State, had two points in 19 minutes.

Hawkins, who scored nine points in the first half and then did not take a shot the entire second half.

“A lot of guys seem to be struggling with their shots at the same time,” Atkinson said. “It’s really frustrating to know if we could have hit a few more easy baskets we would have been in position to pull off the upset.”

Long Beach State trailed, 35-33, with 19 minutes left. But then Spartan senior guard Eric Snow led an 11-1 spurt with two driving layups, two assists and two steals in a four-minute span. It was the only stretch when Michigan State’s potent running game was in gear.

But it was all the Spartans needed. After falling behind, 46-34, Long Beach State could not pull closer than five points the rest of the game.

“We let down,” Hawkins said. “It’s as simple as that. You can’t let down for even a second against a team as good as Michigan State.”

The 49ers gave the Spartans all they wanted and more in a first half that saw 11 lead changes. “We could never really shake them,” said Feick, who scored 13 of his 16 points in the second half.

“We weren’t intimidated at all,” Atkinson said. “We had them playing a little scared in the first half. I don’t think they excepted us to still be around after the first few minutes.

“We shocked them a little, but it wasn’t enough.”