PALO ALTO, Calif. – No, it is not time to start comparing Sterling Byrd to Larry Bird.
But the 6-foot-6 senior, who averaged just 3.8 points per game last season, was the best shooter for Long Beach State (1-1) in its first two games of the season, and led the team in scoring with 20 points in LBSU’s 86-67 win over San Jose State at Stanford Wednesday.
“I thought Sterling was going to step it up this year,” said LBSU head coach Larry Reynolds. “The way we play means we are not going to have the same player be our leading scorer every night. Now I think teams are going to have to focus more on Sterling.”
SJSU’s Jamon Hill hit a 3-pointer on the first possession in the second half for the Spartans to cut LBSU’s lead to 36-32.
Then it was the Byrd show. He scored eight of the next 10 points for LBSU, which was a start of a 23-6 run for LBSU that pushed the lead to 59-38 for the 49ers.
SJSU (0-2) would get no closer than 12 points for the rest of the game.
“Everything was going right for us,” said LBSU guard Aaron Nixon about the 49ers’ run at the start of the second half. “We finally started knocking down our shots.”
On the other side, SJSU head coach George Nessman didn’t enjoy that stretch at the beginning of the second half.
“It was miserable,” Nessman said. “We took bad shots and turned the ball over. Long Beach is a veteran team and they took advantage of our mistakes.”
Dominique Ricks had a double-double in the game, going a perfect 5-for-5 from the field for 10 points and grabbing 10 rebounds.
“[Ricks] did a fantastic job,” Reynolds said. “He can be eight or nine feet away from the basket but is able to go and get the ball on rebounds.”
Nixon scored 17 points and his guard partner, Kejuan Johnson, scored 11 in the win.
Unlike in Tuesday’s game, which LBSU lost to Air Force 69-68, Reynolds opened up his bench Wednesday with 10 players getting at least five minutes of action.
One of those players was Tim Island, a freshman from San Diego. Island hit two quick shots in his first collegiate basketball game and scored 5 points in nine minutes.
“We didn’t play as many people last night and that was my fault,” Reynolds said. “With our tempo, we need to play a lot of players. It was good for Tim see some action tonight and get those first game jitters out of him. I expect him to be in our rotation within the next seven or eight games.”
The 49ers are headed back to LBSU for a game Friday when they host Cal State Bakersfield at 7:35 p.m in The Walter Pyramid.
