The562’s coverage of Long Beach State athletics for the 2024-25 season is sponsored by Marilyn Bohl.
The562’s coverage of Long Beach State Basketball is sponsored by CSULB Distinguished Alumnus Nelson Farris.
The562’s coverage of Long Beach State men’s basketball for the 2024-25 season is sponsored by Arline & Mike Walter.
Saturday’s shooting woes against Portland proved once again that this new Long Beach State men’s basketball team is very competitive but still a long ways away from being a cohesive unit.
The Beach (1-3) fell behind early at Walter Pyramid and came back to make it close but a possible game-winning 3-pointer from Devin Askew fell short at the buzzer as Portland held on for a 63-61 win.
This is the third consecutive loss for LBSU, and two of those defeats were decided on the last possession. The Beach visits No. 4 Gonzaga on Wednesday.
On Saturday, Portland (2-2) jumped out to an 11-2 lead while LBSU missed eight of its first 11 shots. The Beach got back within a possession in the second half but was only 10/29 from the field, 3/14 from 3-point range and 8/16 from the free throw line over the last 20 minutes.
“It’s the byproduct of guys figuring out each other’s games,” LBSU first-year coach Chris Acker said of the poor offensive output. “Our guys believe that they’re really good players and I want them to have that confidence and belief in themselves. But I also want them to play with vision and play connected. That’s just an ongoing process to get there. I think everything will average out as the season goes on and we get more and more comfortable. Our guys want it. As long as we maintain that attitude on defense and rebounding it will put us in position to win games like that.”
Cam Denson and Ramel Lloyd Jr. both scored a team-high 15 points while guards Devin Askew and TJ Wainwright each chipped in 10 points. Askew captained the offense with six assists and eight rebounds while Denson came off the bench to fill the stat box with nine rebounds, two steals, an assists and a block.
Portland got a game-high 18 points from forward Austin Rapp, who went 5/8 from 3-point range. The Pilots were 8/20 from behind the arc, scored 18 points in the paint and led for over 36 minutes of the game. Their eight made free throws on 11 attempts in the second half also proved to be the difference as Portland easily got to the basket late in the game.
“(Our opponents) are laying the ball up on ball screens or at the end of the game they’re throwing pocket passes, and we’re just not doing a great job of stopping that,” Acker said of the LBSU pick and roll defense. “I have to figure out a better way to communicate. It starts with me and us understanding exactly what it is we’re trying to do in pick and rolls. Our defense can be complicated at times but once we figure it out we;’re going to be really hard to score on. We’ll be better.”
Acker used a “small ball” lineup for most of the game and it paid off with better floor spacing in the first half. A pair of 3-pointers from Lloyd Jr. and Denson around the 10 minute mark cut the Portland lead to 16-13.
Denson’s steals and activity in the paint sparked a 7-0 run just before halftime. LBSU scored six points off turnovers in a four minute span.
“It was just what the team needed,” Denson said of what he brought from the bench. “I wanted to come in and have energy and be effective. Every time I step on the court, whether I’m starting or coming off the bench, I want to play hard. I want to play defense and that’s why I came here.”
Rapp hit a 3-pointer in the final seconds to make it 35-30 Portland at halftime.
Portland pushed its lead to 10 just after the 8-minute media timeout, but Lloyd Jr. finished a fancy layup and drilled a 3-pointer on consecutive possessions to keep the Beach alive.
“We face adversity every day in practice,” Lloyd Jr. said. “Our practice environment is basically like a game. When we have those moments when we’re down and we’re low we know how to get together, fix it and play harder.”
LBSU picked up its defensive pressure down the stretch while taking advantage of good rebounding that led to 10 second chance points. A block from Derrick Michael Xzavierro and a steal from Wainwright led to a Lloyd Jr. layup that made it a 2-point game with 17 seconds left.
A missed Portland free throw in the final seconds gave Askew the ball and a chance for the tie or win. He got to the top of the key and tried to get separation against Rapp. He dribbled left and pulled up for a contested 3-pointer that banged off the back iron.
“I have to put Devin in a better position to make a better decision,” Acker said. “I would’ve loved for Devin to get to the basket and put it in the refs hands. But when you have players who believe in themselves, that is step one. He thought he had enough separation to take a shot to win the game, and I want players to have that type of confidence. So I’m just going to continue to install confidence in them and hopefully we’re in those situations more and we can then put ourselves in better positions.”
LBSU now turns its attention to No. 4 Gonzaga on Wednesday.
“We’ve got a lot of work to do,” Acker said. “We have to believe we can win the game and that comes through figuring out what we did in this game to put ourselves in a better position for this next game. We have to go on the road and win in one of the hardest college basketball environments in the country.”
