49ers Have Some Fun Beating San Jose State

Coaches rarely endorse playground basketball. But considering what his team has been through recently, Long Beach State Coach Seth Greenberg let his players have their fun.

There were acrobatic dunks, stylish passes and many smiles. Greenberg enjoyed the latter the most.

Greenberg needed a good time as much as anyone, and Long Beach rewarded its weary coach by racing to a 76-63 Big West Conference victory over San Jose State before 2,418 Thursday night at the Event Center. Bring on the high-fives and hugs.

“You know, with as much as we’ve been through, it feels real good to win a basketball game and just talk about basketball,” said Greenberg, whose team has defeated San Jose in nine consecutive games.

“We really haven’t had much fun lately. I told myself that I was going to come out tonight, coach basketball and have some fun.”

An anti-Semitic epithet and several alleged incidents of racism were apparently directed at Long Beach Monday night at New Mexico State. The 49ers also lost to the Aggies, 76-63, their second consecutive Big West defeat.

But led by guard James Cotton, who scored a career-high 30 points, Long Beach (9-7, 4-3 in the Big West) bounced back emotionally as well as in the standings. Long Beach earned its second road victory of the season and is tied for third place in the conference with Utah State and Nevada.

Cotton was sensational, making 11 of 17 shots. His game was especially gratifying because Cotton made only five of 23 against New Mexico State. Against San Jose, Cotton made consecutive three-pointers midway through in the second half that gave Long Beach a 58-52 lead.

“[Point guard Rasul Salahuddin] saw me feeling it and he hooked me up,” Cotton said. “It was just great teamwork.”

Said Salahuddin: “You know that J.C. is going to come through.”

And that was it for San Jose. In its most impressive stretch of basketball this season, Long Beach outscored San Jose, 30-7, during a 10-minute second-half run. When the run ended with 3:53 remaining in the game, Long Beach had a 74-59 lead and San Jose (4-12, 3-5) was wondering what happened.

“I was very disappointed,” Spartan Coach Stan Morrison said. “We were just standing around watching them--literally.”

The 49ers’ 1-3-1 zone forced the Spartans into a season-high 28 turnovers. The key to the zone, as always, was senior forward Juaquin Hawkins.

One of the best defenders in the Big West, Hawkins sat out the New Mexico State game with a sprained left ankle. His ankle is still sore, but Hawkins disrupted San Jose’s offense at the top of the zone.

“The zone isn’t the same without Hawk,” Cotton said. “Hawk is the zone.”

Greenberg gushed with pride about Hawkins’ performance. He hugged the senior forward on removing him from the game for the final time in the second half.

“The courage he played with,” Greenberg said. “That ankle is still hurting him. He’s still in a lot of pain.”

Salahuddin also played well, scoring 15 points with eight assists and five steals. Salahuddin triggered a celebration by the 49ers with a dunk through the middle of San Jose’s defense that gave Long Beach a 68-56 lead with 5:56 to play.

Forward Olivier Saint-Jean led the Spartans with 16 points. Guard Tito Addison scored 14.