Long Beach State Finally Finds the Range, 86-69

The improvement was obvious and impressive. If Long Beach State can keep it up, the fun should continue too.

Long Beach, three nights after a horrid shooting performance, shot well from the field and free-throw line Tuesday night against St. Mary’s. The result was an 86-69 nonconference victory before 2,618 at the Pyramid, giving the 49ers much to feel good about.

“The last game we lost was more heartbreaking that anything,” 49er point guard Rasul Salahuddin said. “We played hard and we had it, we just didn’t hit the open shots. We wanted to come out tonight and hit all those open shots we missed the last game.”

The 49ers’ spirits were pretty low after losing to Miami of Ohio in overtime, 69-62, Saturday night in the Las Vegas Bowl Classic. Long Beach shot 30% from the field while Miami was worse at 27.7%--big factors in Long Beach’s lousy mood.

Long Beach (4-3) experienced the opposite against St. Mary’s (3-2). The 49ers shot 61.9% from the field, 54.5% from three-point range and 71.8% on free throws.

Salahuddin and his backcourt mate, James Cotton, led the turnaround. Salahuddin scored 21 points, making four of six three-point shots. Cotton had a team-high 25 points and made both of his three-point attempts.

“This was the first game I was really aggressive offensively,” Cotton said. “I came out tonight and told myself to be aggressive and attack the rim. Our whole team was more aggressive tonight.”

Still, Long Beach had to battle because St. Mary’s guard David Sivulich scored a game-high 33 points, making eight of 15 three-point baskets.

“Oh, man, that guy is incredible,” Cotton said. “I’ve never seen anyone with range like that.”