BAKERSFIELD — The Long Beach State men’s basketball team struggled on the glass and could not contain Cal State Bakersfield’s Jemel Jones in an 80-65 loss to the Roadrunners on Saturday night.
Devin Askew had 21 points and Austin Johnson had a season-high 14 for Long Beach (6-10 overall, 2-2 Big West), which shot above 50% from the field (23 for 45) for the sixth time in its last seven games but was outrebounded 43-20. Bakersfield (8-8, 2-2) had 19 offensive rebounds, which led to 14 second-chance points and 14 more shots than the visitors.
Jones, the Roadrunners’ leading scorer, finished with 25 points on 12-of-22 shooting, while CJ Hardy had 12 points, Corey Stephenson had a double-double (11 points, 10 rebounds), Fidelis Okereke had 10 points and seven rebounds and Tom Mark grabbed 10 rebounds.
Long Beach trailed nearly the entire night, with turnovers helping to fuel an early 9-0 run for Bakersfield. Long Beach kept things close for a while, but the Roadrunners’ lead grew to 39-30 by halftime.
A quick 3-pointer from Askew in the opening minutes of the second half cut the margin to 40-35, but Long Beach never got any closer. Bakersfield led by double digits for nearly all of the final 10 minutes.
TJ Wainwright added 12 points for LBSU, while Askew added four assists and Johnson had a team-best five rebounds.
UP NEXT
Long Beach plays at UC Davis next Saturday (Jan. 11) at 2 p.m.
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