
Photo by: Paul Trafecanty
CSUN Battles but Falls Short at Long Beach State
1/10/2018 10:42:00 PM | Men's Basketball
LONG BEACH, Calif.---CSUN Men's Basketball dropped a hard-fought battle to Long Beach State 80-70 on Wednesday evening at Walter Pyramid. Four Matadors scored in double figures led by freshman guard Terrell Gomez who scored a career-high 24 points and knocked down a season-best six 3-pointers. Lyrik Shreiner posted 13 points, six rebounds and four assists while seniors Micheal Warren and Tavrion Dawson finished with 12 and 11 points respectively. After leading by as many as nine points, the Matadors fell behind by double-digits before taking the 49ers to the limit down the stretch.
"We lose the game but I thought the guys competed really hard," said head coach Reggie Theus. "It's a tough team for us to play, they get 68 points between points in the paint and free throws. It's hard to beat a team like that. I thought defensively the guys battled. If our guys continue to play like this, we're going to win a few games.
"I had a long conversation with our guys that had nothing to do with jumpers or defensive schemes," continued Theus. "I mentioned three things to them: It's your focus, it's your energy and it's your toughness. Those three things can sustain you the entire season and you can compete with anybody with those three things."
Despite just 41.4 percent shooting overall from the field, the Matadors had tremendous success from the 3-point line as they hit 12-of-22 (54.5 percent). The 49ers countered the Matadors' outside shooting with a 40-14 edge in points in the paint and 28-of-33 shooting from the free throw line. Long Beach State out-rebounded CSUN 40-30 for the night and shot 46.3 percent for the game. The teams committed 15 turnovers apiece.Â
In the first half, the Matadors jumped out to the early lead behind hot outside shooting from Gomez. After knocking down the first shot of the game from long range, he hit another 3-pointer at the 17:07 mark to put CSUN up 8-2. Gomez then hit his third-straight 3-pointer to put the Matadors ahead by seven (13-6).Â
The 49ers closed the gap with five-straight points, but the Matadors scored six of their own to stake to their biggest lead of 19-11. In the run, Gomez stole an outlet pass from Jordan Griffin and took the ball up the floor, and found Shreiner for a driving layup. Shreiner later found Warren from the corner for a 3-pointer at the 9:25 mark.Â
Utilizing the inside game, Long Beach State remained close. Gabe Levin led the comeback charge, scoring nine of his team's 11 points (eight of which in the paint) during a key stretch to put the 49ers ahead 22-20. In the game, Levin scored a career-high 29 points.Â
Gomez gave the Matadors a 23-22 lead on his fourth 3-pointer but the Matadors would go cold for the final six minutes of the period. LBSU went on a 10-0 run, capped off by a jumper from Deishuan Booker to take a 32-23 lead. Capitalizing on just two CSUN field goals down the stretch, the 49ers closed the period on a 16-6 run to lead 38-29 at the break.Â
Showing little quit, the Matadors kept battling in the second half and kept the game close throughout. Trailing 43-33, the Matadors scored six-straight points after 3-pointers from Dawson and Warren to close within four. Long Beach State then stretched the lead to 56-44 not before CSUN went on an 11-2 run to trim the deficit to 58-55. Coming off the bench, Jalon Pipkins knocked down consecutive 3-pointers from the corner in the second half and brought the Matadors to within three points with his shooting.Â
The teams traded runs throughout the second half but the 49ers remained in front. After the 49ers went back up 76-67 with 2:11 left to play, the Matadors again made a final push. Gomez knocked down yet another 3-pointer to cut the deficit to six.
Following three missed 49ers layups on the same possession, CSUN gathered the rebound and marched up the floor. Dawson found an open lane but was whistled for an offensive foul with 41 seconds left. The 49ers would hit their free throws down the stretch to secure the victory.Â
Gomez's six 3-pointers match Warren for the most treys by a Matador in a game this season. Warren went 6-of-8 against San Diego Christian on Dec. 27 while Gomez finished 6-of-10 on Wednesday. Also finding success from downtown against the 49ers, Dawson went 2-for-3 from the arc while Warren went 2-for-4.Â
The Matadors return home on Saturday evening against UC Irvine at The Matadome. Tip off is slated for 7 p.m. The game will be streamed live on the CSUN Sports Network presented by Dignity Health.Â
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Team Stats
CSUN
LBSU
FG%
.414
.463
3FG%
.545
.182
FT%
.667
.848
RB
30
40
TO
15
15
STL
8
7
Game Leaders
Players Mentioned
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Texas State vs. Dixie State
Friday, November 19
A Conversation With Mark Gottfried
Friday, June 19
Preseason chat with Terrell Gomez
Thursday, October 03