LONG BEACH, Calif. — The Southern Utah men’s basketball team fell to Long Beach State 82-71.
The Thunderbirds were able to pull within three with 5:41 to go before a four-point play by the 49ers’ Deishaun Booker.
The T-Birds picked up 28 total fouls in the game, including six players with three or more personal fouls.
Andre Adams led the T-Birds in scoring with 18, followed by Cam Oluyitan who had 14 and Jacob Calloway with 12.
LBSU outrebounded SUU 51-35 and managed to keep many possessions alive by tipping the ball out to the perimeter.
The T-Birds played well in the first half, down just one going into the break down. However, the offense stagnated after Long Beach switched to a zone, with SUU shooting only 38 percent from the field in the second half.
The T-Birds could not stop Booker, who seemed to get fouled every time he took a shot. Booker completely swung the momentum on the four-point play and finished the game with 21 points and shot 10-11 from the free throw line.
The 49ers began to pull away after that and went on an 11-2 run over the next 1:18.
SUU’s players looked visibly flustered after some questionable calls, and the aggressive zone defense played by the 49ers was able to slow the offense down in the closing minutes.
SUU falls to 4-2 on the season. The T-Birds won’t have time to dwell on the loss as they travel to take on the Chippewas of Central Michigan University on Saturday.
Follow the team on Twitter @SUUBasketball.
Story by: Connor Sanders
sports@suunews.net
Photo by: SUU Athletics Strategic Communication
