Long Beach Wins 7th in a Row
Long Beach State will lose another basketball game, but its Big West Conference opponents are wondering when, and with good reason.
Long Beach has overpowered conference foes recently and has a seven-game winning streak after Wednesday night’s 75-63 victory over UC Santa Barbara before 3,212 at the Thunderdome.
The 49ers’ first victory here since the 1987-88 season enabled them to tie Utah State for first place in the league.
Joe McNaull scored a career-high 28 points and led Long Beach, 14-6 and 10-3 in the conference, with nine rebounds. He scored 16 first-half points as the 49ers took a 38-33 halftime lead, and had six points during a 15-4 second-half run that helped pushed their lead to 60-48 with 5 minutes 3 seconds to play.
“We did a good job getting the ball into Joe’s hands,” Coach Seth Greenberg said. “Obviously, when you get the ball into Joe’s hands, good things happen.”
Two consecutive baskets by Mark Flick helped the Gauchos (11-10, 6-7) cut the Long Beach lead to 45-44 with 12:03 to play. But Eric Brown made a three-point basket on Long Beach’s next possession, triggering the 49ers’ game-breaking run.
“Eric Brown’s three-pointer was a big one,” Gaucho Coach Jerry Pimm said. “We had our chances--and that hurt.”
Guard Lelan McDougal led Santa Barbara with 18 points. Flick had 13.
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