Long Beach Stumbles Late but Still Earns a Victory

The Long Beach State men’s basketball team got its victory Sunday afternoon, but it has a lot of work to do.

After controlling much of the game against Southern Illinois at the Pyramid, the 49ers broke down in the closing minutes, turning what should have been an easy victory into a 78-77 escape before an announced crowd of 1,764.

The 49ers led, 75-68, with 2:34 left. But a dunk by Derrick Tilmon and a layup by Abel Schrader off a Charles O’Neal turnover brought the Salukis (1-2) to within three. From there, the 49ers (2-1) made only three of eight free throws, missing the final four, committed another turnover, and gave up a three-point play with a four-point lead, keeping Southern Illinois in the game.

“We gave up 12-14 points in transition tonight,” said Long Beach Coach Wayne Morgan, 2-1 for the second time in his four years at Long Beach State. “If we stop that and make our free throws, this game is not as difficult as it was.”

The Salukis had a chance to win the game twice in the final eight seconds. With 8.6 seconds left, guard Kent Williams’ in-bound pass was juggled, and recovered by O’Neal with 6.4 seconds left. He was fouled, but missed both free throws.

Jermaine Dearman grabbed the rebound for Southern Illinois, got it to guard Brandon Mells, who dribbled up court and passed to Chris Thunell on the left wing for a three-point shot, which fell short at the buzzer.

“We missed four or five critical free throws down the stretch, and it’s hard to beat a good team when you do that,” Morgan said. “That’s why we were lucky to win.”

The 49ers dominated most statistics, outshooting the Salukis, 50% to 42%, despite making only two of 14 three-point shots.

Center Mate Milisa led the 49ers with a game-high 24 points, one short of his career high.

After defeating a Missouri Valley Conference team for the first time since 1989, the 49ers next travel to Syracuse, to play in the Carrier Classic against St. Josephs, Pa., a team they’ve never played, on Friday.