49ers, Coach Assailed by Slurs From Fans

Long Beach State Coach Seth Greenberg, angered by several alleged incidents of racism Monday night at New Mexico State, admonished the New Mexico State athletic administration and its fans after the Aggies’ 76-63 Big West Conference victory in front of 5,554 at the Pan American Center.

Greenberg laced into New Mexico State in a postgame tirade, in which he said his players were called racial epithets late in the second half. With less than a minute remaining in the game, forward Brian Yankelevitz and assistant coach Matt Hart had to restrain Greenberg from confronting fans seated near the 49ers’ bench.

Before the game, an anti-Semitic epithet was discovered on the grease board in the visitors’ locker room at the arena.

“There are more important things than a basketball game,” Greenberg shouted in front of reporters and photographers. “That’s life and being a good person. I have to go into my locker room and see [an anti-Semitic] sign.”

Greenberg said he was disgusted to hear his players berated in racial terms. “That’s a sad commentary on life and that’s a sad commentary on this university,” he said.

Forward Enoch Davis scored a career-high 33 points for the Aggies. New Mexico State (5-10, 2-5) stopped a five-game losing streak--the longest in Coach Neil McCarthy’s 11-year tenure.

Long Beach (8-7, 3-3 in the Big West) has lost consecutive games and three of its last four. Long Beach last defeated the Aggies at Las Cruces during the 1987-88 season. Guard James Cotton led Long Beach with 21 points.

Long Beach was without defensive ace Juaquin Hawkins, who has been playing on a sore left ankle for several games. Hawkins made the trip but did not dress for the game.

Before the game, New Mexico State officials said they were disturbed by the anti-Semitic message left in the locker room. However, they were unable to explain how it might have been written on the board that coaches use to diagram plays.

Athletic Director Al Gonzales was out of town and unavailable for comment. Steve Shutt, New Mexico State assistant athletic director, media relations, said an investigation will be conducted.

“I’m very disappointed that somebody would do that,” Shutt said. “On behalf of our university, I apologize to Coach Greenberg. This should not be a reflection on this university.”