Saturday is a Senior Night doubleheader for the Long Beach State men’s and women’s basketball teams, and both teams are jockeying for seeding in the upcoming Big West Conference Tournament.
LBSU (7-22, 5-10) vs. Cal State Northridge (15-14, 8-7) at 4 p.m.
Seniors Cecily Wilson and Darshana Ta’afua will be honored as LBSU tries to win a fourth consecutive game. The 49ers are in a three-way tie for sixth place with UC Riverside and Hawaii. On Saturday, UCR plays first-place UC Davis while Hawaii plays second-place Cal Poly. LBSU beat CSUN in early February 59-51 to snap a 13-game losing streak.
CSUN has won two out its last three games, and beat UC Irvine 71-67 on Thursday. Junior Channon Fluker is third in the conference with 19.3 points per game, and she leads the Big West with 12.5 rebounds. Fluker had 20 rebounds in the win over UCI to raise her career total to 1,011. That’s a CSUN record and eighth best in Big West history.
LBSU (14-17, 8-7) vs. UC Riverside (9-20, 4-11) at 7:30 p.m.
The 49ers are riding high after Deishaun Booker buzzer beater to beat UC Santa Barbara on Thursday.
Long Beach State Men’s Basketball on X (formerly Twitter): “Relive the closing seconds as @deideibooker lifts @LBSUhoops over UCSB with the last two of his career-high 20 points. #GoBeach pic.twitter.com/OLUC73E4gM / X”
Relive the closing seconds as @deideibooker lifts @LBSUhoops over UCSB with the last two of his career-high 20 points. #GoBeach pic.twitter.com/OLUC73E4gM
Tonight Gabe Levin, Barry Ogalue and Quentin Shropshire will play their final game at Walter Pyramid as the 49ers try to maintain their fifth place spot in the standings. They are two games behind fourth place and a game ahead of sixth. When LBSU visited UCR on Jan. 13 the 49ers got 18 points from Levin in a sloppy 75-68 victory. It is one of only five road wins this season for LBSU.
UCR hasn’t won consecutive conference games this season, but after losing its first eight Big West games, its won four of last seven. Sophomore Dikymbe Martin (20 points) and seniors Chance Murray (17) and Alex Larsson (16) led the Highlanders to a 72-63 win over Cal Poly on Thursday.
