Dominant defense pushes Long Beach State men's basketball past UC Riverside

LONG BEACH >> Three days after the Long Beach State men’s basketball team gave up 90 points in a Big West Conference loss at UC Irvine, the 49ers’ defense bounced back as they defeated UC Riverside, 66-55, on Saturday afteoon at Walter Pyramid.

A slow start for Long Beach State (15-13, 10-4 Big West) was tued around with improved ball movement thanks to point guard Justin Bibbins. The sophomore finished with 10 points, seven assists, four steals and just one tuover.

“He’s the best point guard in the Big West,” Long Beach State senior captain AJ Spencer said. “He leaed a lot last year (from guard Mike Caffey) and he’s putting it to use right now. I’ve really proud of him.”

“It’s about making the right pass,” said Bibbins, who leads the Big West Conference with 138 assists. “Guys are open all over the place, but I don’t mind the hockey assist if it takes the extra pass to find a good shot.”

Senior Nick Faust led Long Beach State with 17 points while sophomore Gabe Levin dominated down low with 13 points and eight rebonds.

UC Riverside (14-16, 5-9) was led by Secean Johnson’s game-high 19 points, but he was the only Highlander with double digit points as UCR shot 39.6 percent from the field as a team.

“It’s encouraging to see the focus on the defensive end,” Long Beach State head coach Dan Monson said. “We can win games (on defense), but this team hasn’t put it all together yet.”

The offense sputtered out of the gate and UC Riverside took a 13-6 lead before Long Beach State and Bibbins rattled off a 17-1 run that gave the 49ers a lead they would not relinquish. They led by as many as 10 points in the first half and went to halftime leading 31-25.

Bibbins had four assists and four points during the run.

“(Bibbins) is who we recruited,” Monson said. “He’s a true point guard who will keep you honest while finding the playmakers. And he’s underrated defensively.”

Spencer also shined on the defensive end, as he held UC Riverside guard Jaylen Bland to just two field goals and eight points. The Highlanders guard is averaging 16.1 points this season.

Long Beach State had its lead cut to 52-47 with six minutes to play, but Bibbins came up with a steal and pushed it up the floor to find Travis Hammonds, who dished it to Spencer for an open jumper. The 49ers would build their lead to 14 points in the next four minutes.

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“We’ve still got work to do to get to where we need to be to win this conference,” Monson said. “If this team can put it all together and click on all cylinders, I think we’ll get to the level we need to be and build some momentum for the conference touament.”

Long Beach State has two regular-season games left, at last-place Cal State Fullerton on Wednesday and against first-place Hawaii on next Saturday at home.

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