While the Long Beach State 49ers will not be dancing, the future is bright for the Beach.
The Long Beach State Men’s Basketball season ended in a tough way. The 49ers lost to Cal State Northridge in the Big West Tournament semifinal 82-77.
Overall, the season was a bit disappointing as going into the year the 49ers were predicted to be a team that will be in the mix to win the conference and pull an upset or two in non-conference play. While they did finish as a respectable third seed at 10-6, they went 5-11 in non-conference play.
The 49ers started miserably at 1-9, without star guard Tyler Lamb (15.4 points per game). Lamb made his first appearance against the USC Trojans in December, as the 49ers won by one. As soon as Lamb stepped on the floor, the 49ers were a much better team as they went 14-9. While one can say that if Lamb played all year, the 49ers could’ve pulled off an upset but that’s not the case.
The 49ers played solid in the Big West, but didn’t play to their expectations. They went 0-4 against top two seeds (UC Irvine and Santa Barbara), losing three of the four by under three points. The 49ers simply couldn’t close the games and that was the difference in winning first or second place in the regular season. The 49ers did have four game and three game win streaks in Big West play. While the 49ers didn’t play to their standards as they finished under .500 with a 15-17 overall record they have the pieces to be a conference favorite heading into next season.
The 49ers will lose big man Dan Jennings (Big West Honorable Mention Team) who played well, especially in the last few months. Returning for the 49ers are Mike Caffey (All-Conference First Team) and Lamb (All-Conference Second Team) as they will be seniors next season. The only reason Lamb was not a All-Conference First Team was his late arrival with the squad following a transfer from the UCLA Bruins.
The key for the Beach is finding a big man that can replace Jennings and be a low post presence for the 49ers.
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