Long Beach Rallies Again for Victory

Long Beach State rallied from a large deficit for the second consecutive game Saturday night and earned an 83-77 Big West Conference victory over Pacific before 3,404 at the Spanos Center. In the process, the 49ers learned a lot about themselves.

“This was a breakthrough game,” Long Beach Coach Seth Greenberg said. “We could have folded our tents, but we just kept hanging in there. This just means so much for our mental make-up.”

The 49er backcourt made the key plays that helped wipe out the Tigers’ 66-53 lead with 10:52 seconds left. Point guard Rasul Salahuddin made a three-point shot with 5:12 remaining to give Long Beach the lead for good at 70-69. Salahuddin had 14 points, 10 assists, three steals and only one turnover.

Guard James Cotton, the Big West’s leading scorer, had game highs with 23 points and nine rebounds. He scored a career-high 30 points as Long Beach rallied to a 76-63 Big West victory over San Jose on Thursday night.

Forward Juaquin Hawkins had 16 points and three steals for Long Beach, which improved to 10-7 overall and moved within one game of first place in the Big West at 5-3.

Guard Monty Owens led the Tigers (7-10, 3-6) with 14 points.

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New Mexico State did not determine the origin of an anti-Semitic epithet or confirm that several alleged incidents of racism during a game were directed at Long Beach State on Monday night in Las Cruces, N.M., according to a report sent to the Big West Conference office.