Nick Faust carries Long Beach State men's basketball past CSUN

LONG BEACH >> A devastating injury to an already depleted roster somehow sparked a game-wiing run from Long Beach State as guard Nick Faust shined in an 81-76 victory over Cal State Northridge on Saturday at Walter Pyramid.

With guards Justin Bibbins (hamstring) and Noah Blackwell (wrist) already on the bench with injury, Long Beach State (12-12, 6-3) trailed 55-50 with about 10 minutes left in regulation. Junior guard Branford Jones drove to the basket but injured his right leg in the process. A technical foul was called, and Bibbins came off the bench to make both free throws, much to the delight of the 2,538 fans on hand.

Before play resumed, Long Beach State head coach Dan Monson implored his team to stop feeling sorry for themselves.

“I told them they owed it to Bibbins, Blackwell and the other guys who would do anything to be (playing) right now,” Monson said. “If anything positive came out of the (Jones) injury, it woke us up.”

Faust, who basically served as the fourth-string point guard down the stretch, took over from there and scored the next seven points of the game to give Long Beach State a lead they would not lose. Faust finished with a game-high 27 points, 21 of which came in the second half.

“It’s about taking smart shots,” Faust said of his offensive strategy. “I’m always in attack mode. But at a certain time and place on the floor, I’m in super attack mode.”

“We can see it in his eyes,” said forward Travis Hammonds of Faust. Hammonds scored 19 points off the bench. “When (Faust) puts his head down and he’s got that look, it’s a wrap.”

Faust also came up with four important steals in the second half two go with two assists and a blocked shot. The senior went 11 for 12 from the free throw line as the 49ers when 29 for 37 from the charity stripe to help maintain the lead.

“(Faust) has always been talented,” Monson said. “Now he’s emerging as a leader. He took that game over.”

Cal State Northridge (8-15, 3-6) opened an early lead by scoring 18 of its first 30 points in the paint. Four Matadors were double digit scorers as Kendall Smith and Micheal Warren both scored a team-high 14 points each. There were 10 tied scores and 16 lead changes.

Forwards Gabe Levin, who finished with a double double 12 points and 12 rebounds, and Roschon Prince solidified the defense down low and helped Long Beach State finish the first half on a 10-4 run to lead 39-36 at halftime.

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This is a third straight Big West Conference win for third-place Long beach State, who will stay at home and hope to get healthy before hosting Cal Poly on Thursday night.

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