RIVERSIDE — Stingy defense and contributions up and down the lineup were a recipe for success for Long Beach State in its season opener.

Lassina Traore had 13 points and 12 rebounds in his debut to set the pace as Long Beach defeated Cal Baptist, 79-64, on Monday night at CBU.

Jadon Jones went 3 for 4 from 3-point range and finished with 13 points and five rebounds for Long Beach. Senior point guard Joel Murray had 12 points, five rebounds and four assists and redshirt freshman AJ George scored nine points in his LBSU debut, as nine Long Beach players scored at least five points. Aboubacar Traore had six points and nine rebounds.

Long Beach played effective defense from the outset, holding the Lancers to 32% shooting overall (20 for 62), including an 8-for-35 mark from 3-point range. Long Beach had eight steals and three blocked shots and outrebounded Cal Baptist 43-36.

Taran Armstrong led Cal Baptist with 19 points and added seven rebounds and four assists. Riley Battin added 16 points and 13 rebounds for the Lancers. Reed Nottage finished with 11 points and two steals.

Long Beach used a 10-2 first-half run to grab a lead it never relinquished and held a 38-31 advantage at halftime. Jones and Marcus Tsohonis had baskets early in the second half as LBSU extended its lead to double-digits.

A Tone Hunter jumper pushed the Long Beach lead to 68-49 with 8:46 left, but the Lancers made one final push. CBU trimmed the margin to 10 points with about five minutes left before a Jones 3-pointer helped squelch the threat and LBSU held on from there.

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Long Beach State visits No. 8 UCLA (1-0) on Friday night and Cal Baptist hosts NJIT.