By The Long Beach State men’s basketball team ended its week on a high note by easily beating Sacramento State, 76-55, at The Walter Pyramid Saturday night.
The win came on the heels of the 49ers’ 95-90 victory over Pepperdine at home Thursday. LBSU (5-4) has now won its last three games after losing three straight on the road.
Although the 49ers showed flashes of the up-tempo offensive game that dominated Thursday’s contest against Pepperdine, they overpowered Sacramento State (5-6) through a methodical approach on both sides of the court that was more solid than flashy.
Offensively, the 49ers moved the ball around to create open shots, enabling them to shoot 49.1 percent for the game.
Defensively, they put the clamp down on Sacramento State by holding them 23 points below their season scoring average and forcing the Hornets to shoot only 35.5 percent, although the Hornets missed a number of open shots throughout the game.
“I don’t think Sacramento really shot the ball as well as they do normally,” said LBSU head coach Larry Reynolds. “I would like to credit our defense with that a little. But they’re on the road, and it’s a little tougher when you’re on the road to shoot the ball from the perimeter.”
The slower pace of the contest was a far cry from the offensive free-for-all of last season’s meeting between the two teams, which Sacramento State won 106-94.
“They are a team that kind of goes off of energy, and I wanted the game to start slow to see if we could maybe throw them out of their rhythm,” Reynolds said.
Aaron Nixon led the way for the 49ers with 19 points on 6-for-9 shooting. Kejuan Johnson added 15 points and five assists.
LBSU took control of the game early off the strength of a 10-0 run capped off by back-to-back three-pointers by Nixon. Sacramento State cut LBSU’s lead to six with over seven minutes remaining, but the 49ers finished the first half with a 15-4 run to take a 39-22 lead at the break.
The 49ers pulled away for good early in the second half, thanks to a 10-2 run punctuated by Nixon’s spectacular two-handed alley-oop jam with 16:51 remaining.
“We’ve been sharing the ball more, and everybody has stepped up their play,”
Johnson said.
“Our defensive intensity is pretty good now, and I just hope we keep it up.”
Alex Bausley led the Hornets with 13 points and seven rebounds. Loren Leath added 11 but only shot 4-for-13 from the field.
