49ers Have Off Night, but Hold Off Nevada : College basketball: Long Beach shoots 39% and commits 17 turnovers, but Wolf Pack shoots 37%.

An artistic hoops display it wasn’t, but Long Beach State is no position to thumb a nose at its 67-64 Big West Conference victory over Nevada on Thursday night before 3,629 at the Pyramid.

“This game probably set basketball back a long way,” 49er Coach Seth Greenberg said. “But it was a win and a win we needed.”

Greenberg is correct on both counts.

The 49ers, 10-6 overall and 6-3 in the conference, move into a second-place tie with New Mexico State. They did so despite shooting only 39% from the field, committing 17 mostly silly turnovers and almost handing the game to the Wolf Pack in the closing seconds after holding a nine-point lead with under two minutes to play.

Nevada (10-8, 6-4) didn’t do too well either. The Wolf Pack shot only 37% in losing to Long Beach for the second time this season.

Some of the 49ers, though, did play well.

Center Joe McNaull continued his strong play, scoring a team-high 19 points with eight rebounds. Forward Terrance O’Kelley had 13 points and equaled his career high with 14 rebounds. Reserve guard Eric Brown scored a career-high 16 points, making four of nine three-point attempts.

Two free throws by point guard Tye Mays gave Long Beach its biggest lead of the game, 64-55, with 1:23 remaining. Then Long Beach seemingly forgot the Wolf Pack was still allowed to score.

Guard Brian Green’s second consecutive three-point basket capped a 9-2 run for Nevada and cut the 49ers’ lead to 66-64 with 20 seconds left. No sweat, it seemed, for Long Beach because Green fouled swingman Jamie Davis and Davis went to the free-throw line for two shots.

He missed both.

However, swingman Damien Edwards then missed a three-pointer that would have given Nevada the lead. Green fouled Davis again while going for the rebound, sending Davis to the line for another eventful trip with 1.8 seconds left.

Davis made the first and missed the second. Nevada point guard Eathan O’Bryant’s desperation three-point attempt from about 70 feet away grazed the rim as time expired.