49ers’ Lloyd Gets 36 in Loss to Kansas St.

Long Beach State did not miss its first 18 shots like it did last year against Kansas State, but the 49ers still came up short in a 90-77 loss to the Wildcats Saturday night before 2,134 at the Pyramid.

Despite playing without senior guard Tommie Davis, who left the team for personal reasons on Friday, and junior center Mate Milisa, sidelined because of an ankle injury, Long Beach State (3-6) played Kansas State (8-2) much tougher than it did in last year’s 39-point loss at Manhattan, Kan.

Sophomore guard Ramel “Rock” Lloyd was the big reason why the 49ers kept the score close, scoring a career-high 36 points. Lloyd made 12 of 20 shots from the field, including four of six three-pointers.

“We had trouble obviously guarding Rock, he lit us up pretty good,” Kansas State Coach Tom Asbury said. “But I thought that our three guards did a pretty decent job down the stretch.”

Cortez Groves led Kansas State’s backcourt trio with 21 points and four steals, and Paco May came off the bench with 15 points and five rebounds. Point guard Chris Griffin finished with nine points, eight rebounds and five assists.

For the 49ers, who have lost three consecutive games, senior D’Cean Bryant had 14 points in a reserve role, and junior Richie Smalls had 11 points and 13 rebounds. Long Beach was outrebounded, 42-31.