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When you’re down two points with under five seconds to play, committing two turnovers is the easiest way to blow a game. The Long Beach State men’s basketball team did just that.
Despite a 17 point, five rebound game, senior forward Mason Riggins was called for a travel and sophomore guard Edon Maxhuni had a pass intercepted as Long Beach attempted to tie the game as time expired in a 85-82 loss to Cal State Fullerton Wednesday night.
The 49ers (9-17, 3-7 Big West) were led by interior scoring from Riggins and redshirt senior center Temidayo Yussuf who posted 17 points and eight rebounds. Despite their dominance down low, Long Beach couldn’t contain Fullerton’s offense in the paint.
“I just wish we could’ve taken away the paint [in the second half],” associate head coach Myke Scholl said via 22 West. “We wanted to win the paint points, which we did. But we just gave up way too many, 26 in the second half at 67 percent. Not gonna win many ball games doing that defensively.”
Fullerton had a balanced offensive attack, with five players scoring in double figures. The Titans were led by senior guard Khalil Ahmad who scored 19 points and added five assists.
In the first half, Riggins and Yussuf commanded the interior, scoring easy baskets to start off the game. Through the first eight minutes, Riggins had 10 points on 5-for-5 shooting.
As a team, the 49ers shot a lowly 1-for-9 from three point land and gave up six offensive rebounds to the Titans. With an emphasis on stopping Fullerton guards Kyle Allman Jr. and Khalil Ahmad, Long Beach allowed other players to make an impact. Fullerton freshman guard Wayne Arnold had 10 points. Long Beach trailed Fullerton 34-27 at the break.
The second half ended up being more of the same for Long Beach as it continued to get buckets from Riggins and Yussuf. However, the 49ers couldn’t keep up in the beginning of the half as the Titans took an 11 point lead with 13 minutes left to play. Long Beach tried its hardest to keep up with Fullerton throughout the final 5 minutes, but the Titans remained steady offensively. Long Beach went to a full-court press defense with under two minutes to play, but couldn’t force stops. Redshirt senior guard Bryan Alberts hit a corner three with 21 seconds left to cut the Fullerton lead to 83-80, but the Titans took the win after the two crucial turnovers from Riggins and Maxhuni.
Next up for Long Beach is a 7 p.m. road matchup Saturday at UC Davis. The Aggies are currently 5-4 in Big West play.
