HENDERSON, Nev. — Long Beach State got off to a solid start, but UNC Greensboro answered before halftime and the Spartans controlled the action the rest of the way to hand LBSU a 71-48 loss in a Ball Dawgs Classic opener on Monday night.
Playing the first of three games in three days in the round-robin event, Long Beach (1-6) shot just 30.8%, had twice as many turnovers as UNCG (3-2) and was outscored 36-9 from 3-point range on a night when it trailed by as much as 27.
LBSU took a 20-13 lead on a pair of Devin Askew free throws midway through the first half, but Greensboro found its footing behind stout defense. The Spartans went on a 7-0 run to take a 23-22 lead. Long Beach trailed 26-24 after an Austin Johnson dunk with 3:35 left, but UNCG closed the half on a 9-0 run for a 35-24 advantage at halftime.
Another 7-0 Spartans run extended the margin to 17 points less than three minutes into the second half and LBSU never got back within 15 points the rest of the night.
One of the best perimeter defensive teams in the country, the Spartans held Long Beach to just 3-of-15 shooting from behind the arc, while shooting 12 for 29 themselves. UNCG shot just 38.7% overall but turned 16 Long Beach turnovers into nine additional field-goal attempts.
Askew had 16 points and five rebounds to pace Long Beach, while Ramel Lloyd Jr. finished with 13 points. Christian Richardson added six points of the bench, while Derrick Michael Xzavierro was the team’s leading rebounder with six.
Kenyon Giles had 22 points on 8-for-13 shooting (5 for 6 from 3-point range) to go with four rebounds for Greensboro. Donovan Atwell had 16 points, Malik Henry had nine points and six rebounds and Ronald Polite III added seven points and eight assists.
UP NEXT
Long Beach continues tournament play against UTEP (3-2) on Tuesday at 5:30 p.m. PT.
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