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.
No matter what happens during Chris Acker’s tenure at the helm of Long Beach State men’s basketball, close games will be a lasting memory from his first season at the helm.
Acker’s young and mostly inexperienced squad seems to be learning on the fly to stay in games, close late deficits and grow cohesion amongst each other during clutch moments. As for walking away with wins, as Kendrick Lamar says,”It’s not enough.”
Once again on Saturday at Walter Pyramid, the Beach had a shot at the game-tying or go-ahead basket on the last possession of the game but missed and fell to Santa Barbara 58-56 in Big West Conference action.
“Obviously it’s another disappointing two-point loss, but we’re not going to be the program that gets bitter or down,” Acker said. “I’m very proud of the way these guys bounced back from (the loss to Riverside on Thursday) so Now we have to regroup and figure out how to put ourselves in a better position to win the next one That’s the mentally. W’er going to continue to grind and work and I know that these guys are up for it.”
Defense had the upper hand throughout the game until Santa Barbara opened up a 11-point lead with three minutes remaining. LBSU used a 9-0 run to close the gap in the final minute, but Devin Askew’s jumper in the lane and Kam Martin’s 3-point attempt just before the buzzer narrowly missed giving LBSU a much needed victory.
The Beach (7-21, 3-13) has lost its last 11 games, sits in 10th place in the Big West standings, and is in danger of missing the cut for the conference tournament next month.
“It’s tough, I’m not going to lie to you,” Acker said of the losing streak “Each loss is just as heavy as the last one. All we can do is get back to work.”
Askew led LBSU with 15 points, while TJ Wainwright chipped in 11. Andrew Nagy came off the bench to shred a career-high nine points, and fellow forward Xzavierro finished with 11 rebounds in just 23 minutes because of foul trouble.
UCSB (18-10, 10-7) was led by guard Stephan Swenson and his game-high 16 points.
Both teams were held up at 30 percent shooting in the first half, and the last six minutes before halftime went by without a made field goal from either team.
The biggest difference in the game was 3-point shooting. UCSB made a trio of shots from behind the arc in the first half while LBSU missed all eight of its attempts from distance. The Gauchos led 27-22 at halftime. They would finish 7-for-29 from 4-point range, and the Beach only connected on two of its 15 from behind the arc.
The impressive run from LBSU to make it close late was sparked by Martin’s three free throws after getting fouled behind the arc. He finished with seven points, four rebounds, two assists and two steals.
Askew followed that up with a turnaround jumper to make it 58-52, and Austin Johnson came up with a steal at the other end with two minutes remaining.
Askew drove and kicked it out to Derrick Michael Xzavierro for an open jumper, and then he grabbed the rebound off a UCSB miss with 45 seconds remaining. Acker called his last timeout to set up a play for Askew, and the ensuing foul and free throws made it 58-56 with 37 seconds on the clock.
With LBSU in the full court press, Martin came up with a steal to set up another play for Askew. He backed down his defender but his hook shot in the lane rimmed out.
Again Martin would steal the ball from UCSB to give the Beach another shot at forcing overtime or stealing the win. Askew tried to get into the paint again, but was swarmed by Gauchos, and he had to pass It back to Martin. Unfortunately, his 3-point attempt was off as the buzzer sounded.
“Evey time we’re on the floor in a close game or down by 15, the work is really the same, the progression is really the same. And the execution is the same. We just keep playing hard, and every time we have to move on.”
“I think that the only difference is that we’re getting more connected down the stretch,” Nagy added. “We’re not wavering as much in those hard moments. We were down 10 and we stayed together. I think that early in the season that is something we struggled with.”
LBSU hosts Cal State Bakersfield on Thursday at 7 p.m. with just four games left in the regular season.
