Long Beach State crushes Lincoln before Big West play resumes – Orange County Register

LONG BEACH — The Long Beach State men’s basketball team closed the nonconference portion of its schedule by essentially catching its breath.

Gavin Sykes had 21 points, Petar Majstorovic had 16 points and a team-best eight rebounds and LBSU (4-10) got contributions from its entire roster in a 113-66 drubbing of Lincoln University (of Oakland) on Tuesday night at the Pyramid.

Five players scored in double figures for Long Beach (4-10), which shot better than 60% from the field for the first time since 2012 and finished with a season-high 31 assists and just 10 turnovers. LBSU’s 113 points are the most it has scored in a game since rolling up 124 against Bethesda (of Anaheim) in 2018.

Cole Farrell had 16 points and three steals, and Shaquil Bender added 16 points and five assists off the bench. Isaiah Lewis chipped in with 12 points and three steals. Rob Diaz III, in his first start of the season, contributed seven points, five rebounds and a season-high eight assists with just one turnover. Majstorovic, who shot 7 for 11 from the field, added four assists and three steals and Sykes, who shot 8 for 12 from the field (3 for 6 from 3-point range) added four assists.

Long Beach got 48 points from its reserves, and all 10 players who saw the court scored at least five points.

Lincoln (2-6) hung around early, even taking a 12-11 lead, but Sykes found Majstorovic for a dunk inside to kick off a 9-0 run and Long Beach never looked back.

Leading by 17 at halftime, the hosts turned up their defensive intensity in the second half. After allowing 50% shooting by the Oaklanders in the first half, LBSU held the visitors to just 28 points on 28.1% shooting after the intermission and led by as much as 55 points in the closing minutes.

Long Beach State dominated the interior, scoring 78 points in the paint and outrebounding Lincoln 43-24. LBSU shot 63% from the field (48 for 76) and 43% from 3-point range (9 for 21) while forcing 20 Lincoln turnovers and blocking seven shots.

Laolu Kalejaiye had 25 points and five assists to lead Lincoln, an independent program that doesn’t officially belong to a specific NCAA division but plays a road-heavy schedule against mostly Division II teams. The Oaklanders shot 39% from the field (24 for 62) and from behind the arc (9 for 23).

Tuesday was the final nonconference game of the season for LBSU, which will resume Big West play on Saturday at 6 p.m. when it hosts Cal Poly (SLO).