Stanford Is Too Tall an Order for Long Beach

For Long Beach State, the dream of a major upset was starting to come to life Saturday.

The crowd of 5,017--second largest ever at the Pyramid--was roaring after the 49ers had crept within five of No. 4 Stanford.

But from that point the dream died, ground to dust by a Stanford team that was bigger, faster, deeper and decidedly more talented than Long Beach.

The Cardinal won going away, 86-63.

Stanford (6-0) was able to regain its inside toughness from the Collins twins, Jarron and Jason, as well as Curtis Borchardt, to launch an 11-2 run for a 56-42 lead with 13:53 to play.

“Long Beach played harder than we did to start the second half,” Stanford Coach Mike Montgomery said. “We were getting manhandled in the post and that shouldn’t happen. But this was good for us--it was the most physical game we’ve had so far.”

As Long Beach State Coach Wayne Morgan feared, the 49ers (3-3) couldn’t handle Stanford’s three-point game. Stanford made eight of 17 shots from behind the line.

Playing off the Stanford long-range threat, the Collins twins--on their 22nd birthdays--delivered much of Stanford’s offensive punch.

They scored a combined 33 points (20 for Jarron) and had 13 rebounds. Moreover, the twins made 14 of 17 shots. Ryan Mendez had a game-high 22 points for the Cardinal.

Ramel Lloyd led Long Beach with 19 points.

Stanford shot 65% in the second half and 59% for the game.