LONG BEACH, Calif. — Long Beach State’s Cole Farrell’s missed 3-pointer at the buzzer gave Illinois State men’s basketball an 82-80 win over on Sunday night in Walter Pyramid. 

With 5.4 seconds left to play, Johnny Kinziger fouled Farrell in the front court and sent him to the line. Farrell missed both free throws, but retrieved his own rebound and launched LBSU’s final chance at a victory, which fell short. 

Petar Majstorovic acted as the Redbirds’ kryptonite from beyond-the-arc. He turned the tide of the contest with a crucial three to bring Long Beach within one, 81-80. Earlier in the second half, Majstorvic tied the game at 70 apiece. 

Majstorovic opened the gates hot, knocking down the first points for LBSU with a triple. 

He led the team with 19 points on 3-for-5 on 3-pointers. 

Perimeter defense was a struggle for the Redbirds throughout the 20 minutes of play. Long Beach connected on 41.7% of its chances. Shaquil Bender added four threes and 18 points to the stat sheet. 

Free throws were key for ISU heading into crunch time. Kinziger gave ISU its final point, making the second of his two attempts with nine seconds left. The junior finished with 15 points on 5-for-9 shooting.

Chase Walker held the steady hand with 13 of his 19 points coming behind the strip. The big man led the Redbirds with seven rebounds. Ty’Reek Coleman matched Walker’s point total with seven made free throws and multiple 3-point plays.  

Reek’s up to 13 points😤 pic.twitter.com/aLjvA5qOcK

— Illinois State Men’s Basketball (@Redbird_MBB) November 17, 2025

Slow shooting told the story for the Redbirds entering into the second half. The team went scoreless for five and a half minutes, following a 42-34 lead heading into the locker room. 

Long Beach took advantage of ISU’s weakness to mount its comeback. 

Following the win, the Redbirds improved to 2-2 on the season. 

Up Next:

ISU heads home against Rockford at 7 p.m. on Thursday in CEFCU Arena.  

Jaden Cohn is the heads sports editor for The Vidette. Cohn can be contacted at jwcohn@ilstu.edu. Follow Cohn on X at @Jadencohn6.

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