Long Beach State Can’t Get Any Breaks Against Nevada

A few more seconds and a couple of breaks, and the story might be especially upbeat. But time and misfortune have twice recently stopped Long Beach State when it finally got going, meaning the losses keep coming.

Long Beach rallied from a 17-point deficit for a second consecutive game only to fall barely short again. Nevada provided the latest Long Beach heartache Thursday night with a 76-73 Big West Conference victory in front of 5,439 at the Lawlor Events Center.

“The second half we guarded magnificently,” said Long Beach Coach Seth Greenberg, whose team rallied from 17 down against UC Irvine before losing, 84-81, Monday night.

“The thing that really disappoints me is how in a game this important we can come out and not compete in the first 15 minutes. In the second half, we competed. But we only played 15 minutes. We win if we play a full 40.”

Long Beach (14-9, 9-5 in the Big West) trails conference-leading Irvine by one game, two in the loss column. UCI was idle Thursday.

The 49ers fought back from a 37-20 first-half deficit and also trailed, 65-52, with 4 minutes 45 seconds remaining in the game. But led by guard James Cotton, who missed the last two games because of stomach problems, Long Beach came back.

A three-pointer by Cotton, who scored a team-high 23 points, cut the Wolf Pack’s lead to 75-73 with six seconds left. Center Marcus Johnson then tackled Wolf Pack center Daniel Watts just over midcourt--with no time elapsing.

Watts missed both free throws, but 49er guard Eric Brown couldn’t control the rebound. Falling out of bounds, Brown attempted to throw the ball off the legs off of Wolf Pack swingman Hakim Ali Bell.

However, Bell grabbed the ball and was fouled by guard Jamie Davis with one second to play. Bell made one of two free throws, and Long Beach was done.

“We rebound that thing with six seconds to go down two, and we’re going to score or get fouled,” Greenberg said. “Now I don’t know if we hit the free throws. But we had a chance.”

Guard Brian Green scored a game-high 29 for Nevada (14-9, 7-6), which snapped a three-game conference losing streak. Forward Damien Edwards had 21 points and 10 rebounds, and center Daniel Watts scored 16.

“No question about it: This was the most important game we’ve played all season,” Wolf Pack Coach Pat Foster said. “We made some plays that were mind-boggling both positively and negatively.”

Cotton started but was out of sync, making six of 17 field-goal attempts. He scored four points on one-of-five shooting in the first half, and played tentatively. However, he made six of 10 three-pointers--five of seven in the second half.

“I wasn’t in a lot of pain,” Cotton said. “I’m not hurt, I was just getting used to playing again. I’m fine.”

The game was Nevada’s first at home since Jan. 27. Nevada didn’t do well during a four-game conference road trip, its longest in six seasons, going 1-3 with three consecutive losses.

Nevada also defeated Long Beach, 79-75, Jan. 20 at the Pyramid. That victory was the Nevada’s fourth straight and it snapped 10-game losing streak to Long Beach, beginning in 1958. Nevada believed its best basketball lay ahead.

However, the Wolf Pack has struggled since defeating the 49ers.

Green had 20 points at halftime and Watts had 12, and Nevada had a 45-39 halftime lead. Davis kept Long Beach in the game, scoring 14 of his career-high tying 20 points in the first half.

“I thought Jamie Davis kept us in the game the first half, no doubt about it,” Greenberg said.

The 49ers trailed by a bunch--quickly. Watts overpowered whomever Long Beach put against him in the post, scoring eight points i making all four of his field-goal attempts to help give Nevada a 26-10 lead with 11:42 remaining in the half.

“This is real tough,” point guard Rasul Salahuddin said. “This is the second one in a row. It was just too little too late.”