By For the second consecutive game at the Walter Pyramid, Long Beach State men’s basketball fell to a Big West conference opponent, this time at the hands of the UC Davis Aggies 73-65.
The loss is The Beach’s seventh straight loss and ninth in their last 10 contests.
UC Davis senior guard TY Johnson entered Thursday’s game averaging 21.2 points per game and delivered a masterful performance to lift the Aggies to a road victory.
Johnson put up a game-high 33 points in 39 minutes of action, going 9-17 from the field, 4-8 from deep and 11-14 at the free-throw line.
Johnson was borderline unstoppable down the stretch, scoring 14 of the Aggies’ last 16 points in the second half and overtime.
The Beach had no answer as he outscored LBSU 12-6 alone in the extra period. With every shot, the groans of the home crowd grew louder until the end.
UC Davis senior guard TY Johnson shoots over LBSU freshman forward Andrew Nagy in overtime. Johnson led the Aggies in scoring finishing with 33 points in a win over The Beach. Photo by Mark Siquig.
“TY Johnson took over in OT; I give Dev and Austin [Johnson] a lot of credit because he had to hit over a contested hand possession after possession,” LBSU head coach Chris Acker said.
Defensively, The Beach put themselves in a position to snap their losing skid.
LBSU won the turnover battle, forcing 28 UCD turnovers. UC Davis lacked an offensive rhythm for most of the game until Johnson caught fire, causing a slow beginning to the early scoring.
The Aggies matched the defensive intensity on the other end as neither team seemed to find the bottom of the net with any consistency.
The Beach led by one point at halftime, up 30-29 following a deep triple from senior guard Devin Askew.
Senior guard/forward Cam Denson was a key component for The Beach on both sides of the ball in one of his best showings of the year. Denson, along with Askew, were the only LBSU players to reach double-figures in scoring.
Denson had 10 points on the night including a big three late that was banked in from the corner while fading away lit up the arena to get LBSU within one point with a few minutes remaining in regulation.
“Cam is an amazing player, especially when his motor’s going and he’s running,” Askew said. “I think if we can get Cam going like this a lot more, he can be a big factor for our team.”
LBSU senior guard Cam Denson rises for a two-hand flush for The Beach. He finished the game with 10 points providing a spark for the home team versus the Aggies. Photo by Mark Siquig.
Askew’s team-high 17 points were seemingly the only supplement of offense The Beach got late in this game including four clutch one-and-one free throws in the final minute.
UCD had possession of the ball for the final play of regulation with the opportunity to win it. With five seconds remaining, they went the length of the floor and got the ball to Johnson for a contested three-point shot, missing short as the buzzer sounded. It was his last miss of the game.
Five unanswered UCD points opened up overtime as it was all-Aggies from the tipoff of the extra minutes, taking the game 73-65 and improving to 7-5 in conference play and 13-10 overall.
It was an improvement for LBSU from the 31-point loss suffered at UC Santa Barbara last Saturday, but it fell short yet again against another quality team at home in overtime.
The Beach return to the Pyramid this Saturday against Cal State Northridge, looking to end their losing streak.
