OREM, Utah — In a high-scoring game, one cold stretch proved the difference for Long Beach State.
Tobias Rotegaard had 16 points off the bench to lead a balanced Long Beach attack, but Utah Valley took advantage of LBSU’s slow start to the second half to take the lead for good and hand the visitors an 88-78 loss on Saturday afternoon.
Five Long Beach players scored in double figures. Tone Hunter set a career-high with 13 points and five assists, Lassina Traore had his third double-double of the season (12 points and a career-high 16 rebounds), Joel Murray added 13 points, four assists and three steals and Marcus Tsohonis had 12 points.
Le’Tre Darthard had a season-high 25 points on 8-of-12 shooting and did most of his damage from the perimeter (7 for 11 from 3-point range) to pace the Wolverines (4-4). Trey Woodbury had 15 of his 19 points in the second half to go with eight rebounds and eight assists, while Justin Harmon had 19 points, seven assists and three steals and Aziz Bandaogo had 13 points and 11 rebounds.
The first half consisted of big runs by both sides, with Utah Valley opening an 11-point advantage with a 21-2 run. Long Beach (4-4) used a 15-2 run to take a 38-33 lead, then fell behind again late before a defensive stop followed by a great feed from Hunter to Murray just beat the halftime buzzer to give the visitors a 45-44 lead at the break.
Long Beach went cold in the first five minutes of the second half, and the Wolverines opened a seven-point lead at 55-48. Utah Valley did a good job maintaining its lead from there, and Long Beach got no closer than six the rest of the way.
LBSU shot 40.3% (29 for 72) from the field and 7 for 16 from 3-point range, but the second-half numbers spoke to the cold spell – 11 for 36 from the field and just 1 for 8 from behind the arc.
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Utah Valley shot 48.4% (31 for 64) overall but took nearly twice as many shots from long range (11 for 30). The Wolverines had 24 assists on their 31 field goals, while Long Beach had 11 on its 29 baskets.
UP NEXT
Long Beach State at Sacramento State, Saturday (Dec. 10), 3:30 p.m.