{"id":156156,"date":"2026-01-30T06:11:07","date_gmt":"2026-01-30T06:11:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/156156\/"},"modified":"2026-01-30T06:11:07","modified_gmt":"2026-01-30T06:11:07","slug":"highlanders-push-past-long-beach-state-with-second-half-run","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/156156\/","title":{"rendered":"Highlanders Push Past Long Beach State With Second Half Run"},"content":{"rendered":"

RIVERSIDE, Calif. \u2013 Long Beach State led at the half on the road at UC Riverside, but the Highlanders pulled away over the final ten minutes to hold off the Beach 71-61.
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\nLong Beach State (8-14, 4-6 Big West) was without leading scorer Gavin Sykes<\/a> due to injury, but the Beach responded well in the opening 20 minutes. The Beach got a lift with 11 points from Isaiah Lewis<\/a> in the first, and Shaquil Bender<\/a> got the Beach rolling with a few baskets early in his first start while replacing Sykes.
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\nDown three with nine minutes to go in the first, Long Beach State went on the offensive with a 7-0 run to force a UC Riverside (8-14, 2-8 Big West) timeout to slow down the Beach. With the lead, Long Beach State found Shay Johnson Jr.<\/a> for an alley-oop inside to put the Beach up five before a Ben Waller basket just before the half set the score at 34-31.
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\nLong Beach State led by as many as six in the second half, but ultimately cold shooting and turnovers allowed UC Riverside back in the contest. The Beach didn’t hit a three in the second half, and 16 turnovers led to 23 Highlander points.
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\nThe Highlanders took their first lead of the second half on an Anthony Henderson three, part of his game-high 19 with just under ten minutes to play, and would extend their lead to eight points down the stretch.
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\nThe Beach cut the lead to five in the final minute, but a key 3-pointer from Henderson helped seal the win for the Highlanders. For the Beach, Lewis led the Beach with 13 points, Bender added 12, and Petar Majstorovic<\/a> had nine points, nine rebounds and two blocks.
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\nThe Beach will return home on Saturday, hosting Hawai’i at 1 p.m. in the LBS Financial Credit Union Pyramid. The game will be simulcast on Spectrum SportsNet and ESPN+.
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