Long Beach State holds on for a 72-67 win over rival Cal State Fullerton

Long Beach State Beach #23 Lassina Traore (F) led his team in scoring with 16 points and sixteen rebounds at the Walter Pyramid. Photo by Chanel Foster/TGSportstv1.

LONG BEACH, CA – The Long Beach State Beach (9-10) held on for a thrilling win over Big West rival the Cal State Fullerton Titans (10-10) at the Walter Pyramid 72-67, thanks to the inside presence of big man Lassina Traore with 16 points and 16 rebounds, and the bench play of guard Marcus Tsohonis with 17 points.

Long Beach State outrebounded Cal State Fullerton 49-29, with Aboubacar Traore snagging 13 rebounds for State also.

"We had two guys that had some detergent and Windex on those boards," said Beach coach Dan Monson. "They were all over the place."

The Traores were reunited this season and live more than 7,000 miles from their African hometown in the Ivory Coast, and the two brothers have dominated the Big West this season. They started every game for Long Beach State, and both are leading the Big West in rebounding this season.

Long Beach State struck first with a three-point shot from Jadon Jones to lead 3-0 off a smooth pass by AJ George for the assist. The Beach blocked the first two Cal State Fullerton shots, including a rejection by A.Traore, which led to him slamming down a monstrous dunk to give Beach a 7-1 lead early in the first half.

The Titans slowly chipped away at the lead before John Square scored on a layup to tie the game at 15-15. A few plays later, Jones was fouled drilling a three-pointer and made his free throw to complete the four-point-play and giving the Beach a 19-18 lead.

Long Beach forward Chayce Polynice showed determination and hustle, diving on the floor to out-muscle the Titans for a loose ball. Polynice then passed it to George, who nailed a jumper to put Beach up 21-20.

"It's physical, and everybody is too fast and strong. It's almost like football was 30 years ago", said coach Monson.

Cal State Fullerton Titans #0 Jalen Harris (G) shooting a three-pointer from the left side of the basket at the Waler Pyramid. Photo by Chanel Foster/TGSportstv1.

The Beach tried a full-court press on the Titans late in the first half, trying to change the momentum. Unfortunately, guard, Jalen Harris helped tear through it, scoring on a layup while getting fouled to carve into the lead 34-31.

With a minute left in the first half, Long Beach State air-balled a three-pointer followed by a turnover, which was one of the 19 turnovers for the Beach, a team that came into this matchup second in the nation in the turnover margin.

Fullerton made them pay for that turnover with a three-pointer by Jalen Harris to cut the lead to 40-37 on the last basket of the first half.

L.Traore led the Beach at halftime in scoring with 8 points and eight rebounds. The Titans had three players with eight points, which tied for their team lead in scoring.

The teams traded baskets for the first part of the second half. With Beach leading 52-51, Grayson Carper from Fullerton had a thunderous block with 11:07 left in the game, temporarily silencing the crowd of 2,354 at the Walter Pyramid.

Carper drilled a three-pointer a minute later, cutting the lead to 55-54 and causing Long Beach State to call a time-out with ten minutes left in the game.

A pair of free throws by Max Jones gave the Titans a 56-55 lead. A.Traore dribbled behind his back, faking out a defender, then dished a pass to Tone Hunter, who blew the wide-open layup, but A.Traore tipped in the missed shot, regained the lead for the Beach 57-56 as the Pyramid erupted in cheers!

"Having a crowd live that definitely adds well-needed energy," said reigning Big West Defensive Player-of-the-Year Jaden Jones. "You never want to let your fans down, especially in a city like Long Beach that's so committed to the city and our team."

"That crowd was amazing, and they really brought the energy," chimed in a grinning L.Traore.

"I had to get him out of the crowd early, and he hadn't played here with one of those before," coach Monson said of L.Traore. "He went to celebrate a couple of times in the third or fourth row. I thought he was going to go dogpile."

The Titans still had some fight left late as Harris bullied his way into the paint for a heavily contested layup to trim the lead to 63-60 with three minutes remaining.

Long Beach State Beach #0 Marcus Tsohonis (G) floater from the right side of the basket at the Walter Pyramid. Photo by Chanel Foster/TGSportstv1.

However, Jones stole the ball for the Beach from the Titans Jones, with 43 seconds remaining, helped stop their comeback in the closing minute. The steal by Jones was his second of the game, part of the vaunted Long Beach State defense that currently leads the Big West in steals.

Five free throws by Tsochonis in the final 31 seconds of the game helped secure the 72-67 victory for Long Beach State.

This was a satisfying win for Long Beach State in their first matchup since their epic one-point loss 72-71 in the Big West Final in March last season. That one-point win by the (2) Titans sent them to the NCAA Tournament, while (1) Long Beach State had to settle for the NIT Tournament.

"We definitely used that (2022 loss) as motivation," said Jones. "Some games are personal, and this one was definitely personal, considering the results of what happened last year.

Long Beach State heads to UC San Diego (7-12) tomorrow, while Cal State Fullerton heads to Cal State Northridge to face the Matadors (3-16).