Long Beach Loses Big Lead, but Still Wins

Ramel Lloyd scored 18 points, the last two off a steal by Michael Darrett, to help Long Beach State survive a late comeback by Tulane and a 79-74 victory Sunday in the third-place game of the Big Island Invitational Tournament at Hilo, Hawaii.

It was the second time in the three-day tournament that the 49ers (3-2) had to stave off an opponent after building leads of at least 20 points. Against San Francisco in the opening game, they held a 29-point advantage in the second half, but pulled out a 76-74 win.

On Sunday, they built a 20-point lead in the first half and led by as much as 17 midway through the second.

But with 6-foot-8 forward Linton Johnson hitting from outside, the Green Wave (3-2) got to within three with 46 seconds left.

The Darrett-Lloyd combination ended Tulane’s hopes.

In addition to Lloyd’s scoring, Travis Reed had 16 points, Lemi Williams 16 and James Williams 10. For Tulane, Johnson and Brandon Brown each had 20 with Ledraryl Billingsley adding 15 and 10 rebounds.

No. 8 Illinois 86, Texas Southern 67--Reserve Sean Harrington made all five of his three-point shots and scored a career-high 17 as the Illini defeated the Tigers at Champaign, Ill.

Harrington sank three consecutive three-point baskets midway through the second half to give Illinois an insurmountable 30-point lead.

Illinois (4-1) got solid contributions from most of its regulars, too, including 16 points and eight rebounds from center Marcus Griffin. He dominated the smaller Tigers inside all day.

Harrington’s big shooting day was timely coming off the draining trip to Hawaii, where Illinois lost the championship game of Maui Invitational to then-No. 1 Arizona by just three points.

Illinois used a 13-0 run to move ahead 18-6, but Chris Miller’s shooting kept Texas Southern (0-3) in the game. Miller’s fourth three-pointer got the Tigers within 20-16 with 10:29 left in the half. That was the closest they got.

No. 19 Oklahoma 78, Oregon State 60--J.R. Raymond made five three-point baskets and three teammates had two apiece as the Sooners (5-0) ran away from the Beavers (4-1) to claim the Big Island Invitational championship at Hilo, Hawaii.

As a team, the Sooners made 12 of 21 three-point attempts with Hollis Price, Nolan Johnson and Kelley Newton each adding two.

For Oregon State, Deaundra Tanner scored a team-high 14 points with Brian Jackson adding 12 and Jason Heide 11. By comparison, the Beavers had six three-point baskets, but they all came in the final four minutes when the game was already decided.

Oklahoma’s biggest lead was 29 points with 8:06 remaining on consecutive three-pointers by Raymond and Price.

ELSEWHERE

San Jose State 82, St. Mary’s 68--Mike Garrett scored 12 of his season-high 16 points in the second half as the Spartans (3-0) defeated the Gaels (0-4) at Moraga.

Billy Landram and Cory Powell each scored 15 points for the Spartans. Chris Baert scored 17 points for St. Mary’s, and Ross Benson had 14 points and 11 rebounds.

Texas A&M; Corpus Christi 86, Cal Poly San Luis Obispo 72--Michael Hicks scored 40 points and grabbed 14 rebounds to lead the Islanders (3-1) to the victory over the Mustangs (1-1) at Corpus Christi, Texas. Chris Bjorkland led Cal Poly with 29 points.

Georgetown 76, Minnesota 60--Kevin Braswell scored a game-high 18 points as the Hoyas (4-0) broke out to 41-22 halftime lead as they defeated the Golden Gophers (4-1) in the championship game of the Hawaii Pacific Thanksgiving Classic at Honolulu. Mike Bauer led Minnesota with 17 points.