Long Beach jumps out early, beats UC Riverside 77-59 (Mar 04, 2018)
LONG BEACH, Calif. (AP) Gabe Levin scored 17 points, Deishuan Booker had 16 points and 10 rebounds and Long Beach State beat UC Riverside 77-59 on Saturday night in a Big West Conference regular-season finale.
Long Beach State (15-17, 9-7) clinched the fifth seed into the conference tournament. UC Riverside (9-21, 4-12) will enter as the seventh seed. Both teams play on Thursday in the first day of the tournament at the Honda Center in Anaheim, California.
Bryan Alberts added 15 points and Temidayo Yussuf 10 for the 49ers.
Chance Murray scored 18 points and Dikymbe Martin chipped in 11 for UC Riverside.
Long Beach State had a double-digit lead midway through the first half and led 43-27 at the break. The 49ers opened the second half on a 15-8 surge, capped by Alberts' 3-pointer and KJ Byers' dunk, for a 21-point lead and cruised from there.
