Long Beach State 86, Idaho 79--The 49ers...

Long Beach State 86, Idaho 79--The 49ers suffered a letdown Wednesday night against one lowly Big West Conference team and got burned. There was no such letdown against cellar-dwelling Idaho.

The 49ers used a team effort, getting double-figure scoring from four players in front of 2,328 at the Pyramid.

Still, Long Beach (13-11, 6-5) doesn’t do things the easy way. Idaho (4-18, 1-10) put a brief scare into the 49ers with consecutive three-point baskets to cut the lead to four points with 1:13 to play before finally succumbing.

“It’s a little frustrating because we put a lot of hard work into getting up by 13 and then we let them back in the game,” 49er point guard Michael Darrett said.

For the 49ers, a victory is a victory, especially after losing their third consecutive game Wednesday at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. With Boise State losing in overtime to UC Irvine, Long Beach jumped back into fourth place.

Center Travis Reed had 22 points and nine rebounds and forward Lemi Williams had 20 and eight. Ramel Lloyd scored 17 points, but it was the Darrett’s play that got the 49ers going.

Normally the top reserve, Darrett started in place of Ron Johnson, who sat out because his right thigh muscle stiffened up in practice Friday. Darrett had 13 points, eight assists, seven rebounds and four steals.

“I thought Michael played very well,” Long Beach Coach Wayne Morgan said. “He passed the ball, he stole the ball. He had eight assists, which I think is tremendous. I’ve been begging him all year to do some more scoring.”

Wearing a headband in honor of Johnson, Darrett had two steals, four points and an assist to Reed for a layup in an 8-0 run that gave Long Beach the room it needed.

“This one took the monkey off our backs,” he said.

Darrett wasn’t the only regular reserve to produce. Brad Smith made a three-point shot right after he came into the game and Kevin Roberts (six points, five rebounds) added a putback to give the 49ers a 20-7 lead.

But the 49ers have had trouble handling prosperity of late. Idaho jumped back into the game behind the inside play of forward Rodney Hilaire.

The forward from Gardena Serra High and Compton College scored all 10 of his first-half points in the final five minutes. Bret Wise’s follow shot gave the Vandals a 34-33 lead.