FRESNO — The Long Beach State men’s basketball team had a strong start defensively, but Fresno State heated up in the second half and pulled away for an 82-62 win on Saturday afternoon.
Long Beach (0-2), which lost to San Diego State by 32 points in its season opener, held Fresno (2-1) scoreless for nearly five minutes in the early going of this one. LBSU maintained a lead through the 12-minute mark of the opening half, but the Bulldogs responded with an 8-0 run to take a five-point lead.
Long Beach tied the score at 15-all on a jumper from Gavin Sykes, but Fresno went on a 10-0 run and held a 28-20 advantage at halftime.
LBSU held Fresno State to just 39% shooting in the first half, including a 1-for-9 showing from 3-point range, but the Bulldogs found their range to begin the second half. Fresno made four straight 3-pointers out of the break to open a 40-27 lead and extended the lead to 20 points before the under-12 media timeout.
Long Beach had a better offensive second half as well. After shooting 26% from the field with 10 turnovers before halftime, the visitors shot 50% after the break. But Fresno hit eight 3-point shots after halftime and leaned on a 38-26 rebounding advantage (26-12 in the first half) to close out the win without much trouble.
Sykes scored 11 points to pace LBSU, while Isaiah Lewis and Rob Diaz III each finished with 10. Petar Majstorovic added nine points and a team-high six rebounds.
Jake Heidbreder had 24 points – 16 in the second half – to lead Fresno. He shot 8 for 13 from the field (2 for 5 from 3-point range) and made all six of his free throws. Wilson Jacques had 12 points and 13 rebounds, while Zaon Collins finished with 12 points. Cameron Faas added nine points (all on 3-pointers).
The Bulldogs finished the game shooting 50% overall (26 for 52) and 39% (9 for 23) from 3-point range.
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LBSU plays at Pacific on Wednesday at 7 p.m.