LONG BEACH — True freshman Gavin Sykes scored 24 points, but Long Beach State came up short in a 78-72 loss to Montana State in the first game at their on-campus arena since it was officially renamed the LBS Financial Credit Union Pyramid.
The game was close throughout, but Montana State (3-4) scored 21 points off of Long Beach turnovers to take the Battle at the Beach crown, concluding a three-day, three-team event.
Shaquil Bender added 17 points and Cole Farrell scored 10 for LBSU (1-5). Isaiah Lewis chipped in with nine points, and Petar Majstorovic contributed five points and a team-high eight rebounds on a night when the teams were similar in most statistical categories.
Jeremiah Davis had 15 points on 6-of-7 shooting and three steals off the bench and Chris Hodges added 14 points on 7-of-8 shooting to pace MSU. Reserve Davian Brown scored 13 points, shooting 4 for 7 from 3-point range, while Jed Miller added 12 points and Patrick McMahon contributed 10 points and eight rebounds.
Sykes scored 19 second-half points to keep the hosts within striking distance, but Long Beach could never catch the Bobcats, who answered every surge from the hosts. Montana State matched its largest lead of the night at 70-61 with 5:05 left, but Long Beach used a 9-3 run to get within 73-70 on a Bender three-point play with 47 seconds remaining.
McMahon converted a three-point play with 23 seconds left to push the margin back to six points. Lewis made a pair of free throws with 11 seconds left for Long Beach, then MSU’s Jed Miller made two of four free throws sandwiched around a Bender 3-point miss to close the scoring.
Montana State, which finished with 58 points in the paint, had just one turnover after halftime while scoring 14 points off of five Long Beach giveaways in the final 20 minutes.
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Long Beach plays at Portland on Wednesday at 7 p.m.