STOCKTON — A strong defensive effort in the first half and a 20-point night from freshman Gavin Sykes gave Long Beach State an opportunity for its first win of the season on Wednesday night, but Pacific held off the visitors in the final minutes for a 69-66 win at the Spanos Center.
Skyes scored in double figures for the second straight game and grabbed seven rebounds to pace Long Beach (0-3). Isaiah Lewis added 14 points, Shaquil Bender scored 13, and Petar Majstorovic contributed six points, seven rebounds and four steals.
LBSU led for more than 25 minutes and held a double-digit lead with just over 12 minutes remaining in the second half. Long Beach still led 54-48 after a three-point play by Lewis with 8:57 left before going cold at the wrong time. LBSU went scoreless for nearly five minutes, and the Tigers (2-1) put together a 10-0 run to pull in front 58-54 with just over four minutes left.
Long Beach tied the score at 58-all on a pair of Sykes free throws with 2:55 left, but a crucial offensive rebound for Pacific on a missed free throw led to a 3-pointer from Kajus Kublickas that gave the Tigers their largest lead of the game at 64-58 with 1:47 left.
LBSU answered with a four-point play from Sykes on the ensuing possession, but Pacific made a pair of free throws and got a dunk by Elias Ralph to open a 68-62 lead with 28 seconds left.
Lewis made a pair of free throws with 20 seconds left, then a Bender steal led to a Majstorovic layup that cut the margin to 68-66 with 18 seconds left.
Pacific’s Kublickas then made one of two free throws, giving Long Beach a chance to tie on its final possession. Sykes had a pair of looks from 3-point range in the final 10 seconds, including one from the corner that missed at the buzzer.
Ralph finished with 15 points (9 for 10 at the free-throw line) and nine rebounds for Pacific, while Alexis Marmolejos had 15 points and seven rebounds. Jaden Clayton added nine points, six assists and four rebounds, and Isaac Jack scored a season-high nine points.
Long Beach was outrebounded 42-35 and was outscored 34-22 in the paint, but Pacific outscored LBSU by 10 points at the free-throw line, where the visitors shot just 12 for 21.
Long Beach led by 10 in the first half before Pacific cut its lead to 30-25 by halftime, but a Sykes 3-pointer put LBSU back ahead by 11 early in the second half.
UP NEXT
After starting its season with three road games, Long Beach will host Illinois State in its home opener on Sunday at 4 p.m. at the Walter Pyramid.
