By snoadmin
Aaron Nixon scored 27 points and the Long Beach State men’s basketball team shot 66.7 percent from the field, as the 49ers eased by UC Davis 102-77 Saturday evening at The Walter Pyramid.
Before the game even started, LBSU (19-7, 9-2) clinched at least a share of the Big West regular season championship, with second-place Cal State Fullerton (19-7, 9-5) losing 90-80 to Cal Poly Saturday afternoon.
“I told the team before the game that we clinched the No. 1 seed in the conference tournament,” said LBSU head coach Larry Reynolds. “I think that energized us for the game.”
LBSU jumped out with a 19-8 lead in the first seven minutes and led 52-38 at the half. Davis started the second half on a 9-2 run, cutting the 49er advantage to seven points, but LBSU then went on a 15-0 run to take control of the game.
The second half felt like a dunk competition at times, with Luis Darby and Nixon both throwing down a pair of slam-dunks.
Kejuan Johnson had 19 points and Kevin Houston added 16 points in the win.
The Homecoming crowd was the largest of the year, with 2,888 spectators witnessing the 49ers’ 11th home victory this season.
The 49ers will be back in action tonight, when LBSU travels to play Pacific at 9 p.m. The game can be seen on ESPN2.
“I expect [Pacific] to make adjustments from our first game.” Reynolds said. “They have a good staff and I think we will see a different Pacific team than we saw earlier this year.”
