PORTLAND, Ore. — The Long Beach State men’s basketball team shook off a slow start but could not hold on to a second-half lead in its season opener, falling to Portland, 78-73, on Monday night at Portland.
Long Beach, which trailed 12-2 just over five minutes into the first half, took a 57-54 lead on a four-point play by Jadon Jones with 8:17 left in the game, but the Pilots responded with a 10-0 run and never trailed again.
LBSU made one last push and trimmed the margin to two points on an Aboubacar Traore layup with 3:41 left, but strong Portland free-throw shooting and foul trouble for the Long Beach big men helped the Pilots close out the win.
Jones finished with 23 points and three steals and converted a staggering three four-point plays to pace LBSU. Portland native Marcus Tsohonis finished with 17 points, while Aboubacar Traore added 16 points, a team-high nine rebounds and five assists.
Vukasin Masic had 25 points and seven rebounds to lead Portland. Tyler Harris added 17 points and 12 rebounds, and Tyler Robertson had 13 points.
Long Beach worked its way out of the early hole and took its first lead on a 3-pointer from newcomer Messiah Thompson with 2:46 left in the first half. Both teams continued to search for an edge in the second half, trading the lead until Jones’ four-point play and the Pilots’ key run.
Long Beach shot 36.2% from the field (25 for 69) and 15 for 23 from the free-throw line, while Portland shot 43.4% (23 for 53) and 25 for 31 from the foul line.
UP NEXT
Long Beach State heads to Chicago to face DePaul on Saturday at 7 p.m. PT.
