Nevada Knocks Off 49ers in Overtime

D’Cean Bryant’s three-quarter court shot at the buzzer flew over the backboard, and Nevada defeated Long Beach State, 85-82, in overtime in a Big West Conference game Thursday night in front of 1,732 at the Pyramid.

Nevada guard Tim Barnett had a chance to win the score with two seconds left in regulation, but the ball rattled around the rim before falling out. Players failed to retrieve the ball before time expired.

Forward Faron Hand led Nevada with 18 points, 12 rebounds and four assists. Guard Jimmy Carroll also scored 18 points for Nevada, which improved to 14-6, 8-2 in the Eastern Division of the conference. Nevada is now tied for first place with Utah State.

Guard Brandon Titus scored 22 points for Long Beach and guard James Cotton added 21. Long Beach (7-12, 3-6) has lost three in a row, eight of 11 and 11 of 15.

Hand tied the score, 75-75, by making one of two free throws with 31.2 seconds left. On the ensuing possession, Long Beach center Ike Nwankwo fumbled a pass from point guard Tommie Davis and the ball went out of bounds.

Forward Brian Yankelevitz scored the first points of overtime with two free throws putting Long Beach ahead, 77-75, with 4:08 to go in overtime. Carroll gave Nevada a 78-75 lead with a three-pointer on the ensuing possession. Nevada center David Morgan put his team ahead for good, 81-79, with 2:30 to go on a layup.

Barnett made four free throws in the final 17.3 seconds to seal the victory. Barnett hit all six of his free-throw attempts.

In regulation, Long Beach created some breathing room with 3:46 to play. Bryant, a reserve forward, who played his best game of the season Sunday at North Texas, made a three-pointer at the top of the circle to give Long Beach a 72-69 lead. Then Nevada goofed.

On the ensuing possession, Nevada point guard Richard Brown mistakenly gave the ball to Bryant. Brown tried to pass, but the ball slipped out of his hands.

Bryant passed to Titus, who connected on a leaning jumper that gave Long Beach its biggest lead of the game, 74-69, with 3:22 to go and prompted Nevada Coach Pat Foster to use a timeout to try and settle down his team.

Guard Lamont Allen made a three-pointer to cut Long Beach’s lead to 74-72 with 2:22 to go. Titus then made one of two free throws to put Long Beach ahead, 75-72.

Nevada took a 45-35 lead on a three-pointer by guard Jimmy Carroll with 16:10 left in the game, and it appeared poised to deliver a knockout blow. But the 49ers responded. They went on a 13-2 run over the next 2:23 and took a 48-47 lead on a three-point play by Titus with 13:47 remaining. From there, the teams virtually swapped the lead on nearly every possession.