Memphis Ends 49er Winning Streak at 8

Long Beach State Coach Seth Greenberg’s math was wrong, but his observation wasn’t.

“This was a four-minute game,” said Greenberg, referring to a six-minute first-half scoring drought that led to the 49ers’ 82-73 loss to Memphis Monday in front of 8,521 at the Pyramid in Memphis.

Despite 20 turnovers, 44.3% field-goal shooting and senior center Joe McNaull fouling out with only six points and one rebound, Long Beach State (15-7), down 13 points with 4 minutes 38 seconds left, pulled to 71-69 with two minutes remaining.

Finally, Memphis made six of seven free throws to end the 49ers’ eight-game winning streak. A victory over the Tigers (20-7), who won their 17th consecutive home game, also would have been a nice addition to Long Beach State’s resume for an NCAA tournament berth.

Forward Terrance O’Kelley, with 13 points and 14 rebounds, did the best he could to make up for the absence of McNaull, who played 20 ineffective minutes. Reserve guard Eric Brown added 13 points, despite missing all six of his three-point attempts.

McNaull’s early foul trouble was the source of Long Beach’s downfall. The 49ers led by as many as 10 points, 25-15, with 8:46 left in the first half.

But Memphis’ highly touted freshman center, Lorenzen Wright, forced the 49ers to switch from man-to-man defense to a 2-3 zone.

That was a cue for Tiger reserve guard Leon Mitchell to make five consecutive three-pointers. Memphis closed the half with a 25-4 spurt for a 40-29 halftime lead.

Mitchell said he was in a shooter’s zone, scoring a career-high 15 points--”I guess they figured they were just going to let me shoot because they didn’t know much about me,” he said--but the 49ers didn’t even adjust their zone toward Mitchell after his first two three-pointers.

“The scouting report said he could shoot,” Long Beach guard Tye Mays said. “We just didn’t know he could shoot from that far out.”

Once Mitchell began hitting, it opened up the inside for the Tigers. Wright and forwards Cedric Henderson and Michael Wilson combined for 50 points and 23 rebounds, with Wright’s 21 points and 12 rebounds leading the way.

The 49ers’ late rally was a combination of nifty coaching by Greenberg and poor execution by Memphis.

The Tigers kept inbounding the ball to point guard Chris Garner, usually ineffective at the free-throw line. Long Beach State fouled him on four of five possessions, forcing Memphis Coach Larry Finch to sweat. Garner made four of eight free throws.

“I thought we had good control of the game, but our inbounds passer kept throwing it to Chris,” Finch said. “I took care of that problem when I switched inbounds passers.”

The 49ers weren’t gloomy in defeat. Several players, as well as Greenberg, pointed to the importance of their Big West Conference games against Cal State Fullerton Thursday and UC Irvine Saturday. Long Beach State is 11-3 in conference, a half-game back of first place Utah State.