Led by guard Devin Askew’s 28-point performance, Long Beach State held off visiting Hawai’i, 76-68, in Big West Conference men’s basketball action Saturday afternoon.
A sparse crowd of 1,146 at the Walter Pyramid watched forward Austin Johnson add 14 points and 10 rebounds and guard TJ Wainwright also score 14 points off the bench as The Beach improved to 3-8 overall and 2-0 in league play. Marcus Greene scored 17 points and Gytis Nemeiksa added 14 points and seven boards for the Warriors, who were playing in their Big West season opener and fell to 5-3 overall.
UH fell behind early, but an 11-0 run helped the Warriors take a 22-15 lead on Akira Jacobs’ 3-point shot with 8:22 remaining in the first half. Another 3 by Jacobs made it 27-20 three minutes later, but Wainwright answered with a driving layup to ignite a 14-2 run capped by Cam Denson’s 3-point goal which put LBSU ahead, 34-29. The Beach led, 37-32 at halftime.
Hawai’i cut it to 47-43 after Nemeiksa’s 3-pointer seven minutes into the second half, but Askew responded with a driving layup to spark a 7-0 run that stretched the lead to 54-43, and after Greene made a short jumper to close it to 58-52 with 7:32 left, Wainwright responded with a 3-pointer to start an 11-2 surge over the next three minutes culminating in Askew’s 3-pointer to make it 69-54 and effectively seal the victory.
The Beach shot 25 of 50 (50 percent) from the field, including a blistering 10 of 13 (76.9 percent) from 3-point range. Long Beach State also made 16 of 17 free throw attempts (94.1 percent). The Warriors did not shoot poorly, going 49.1 percent (26 of 53) from the field and 36.8 percent (7 of 19) from beyond the arc.
The Beach also scored 27 points off of turnovers, compared to 10 such points for UH.
The Warriors returned home for final exams this week and will play host to Texas A&M Corpus Christi on Saturday.
If not for the transfers, this team would be toast. All of the underclassmen don’t handle the ball well except for Hunkin-Claytor. Who probably should be starting along with Green, Nemo, Rapp, and Christianson. Williams and Beattie don’t have the moxie yet to mix it up with the in-conference guards. Jacobs needs to continue to come off the bench along with Ruelideft, Williams and Beattie. This change will allow Hawaii to get some scoring from the starters and allow them to not fall behind in the first half. Hunkin-Claytor has an excellent handle and will not turn the ball over as much. Ganot needs to try this lineup if he wants to get some more wins.