{"id":58993,"date":"2025-11-18T19:35:08","date_gmt":"2025-11-18T19:35:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/58993\/"},"modified":"2025-11-18T19:35:08","modified_gmt":"2025-11-18T19:35:08","slug":"battle-at-the-beach-opens-with-mens-basketball-hosting-nobel","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/58993\/","title":{"rendered":"Battle At The Beach Opens With Men’s Basketball Hosting Nobel"},"content":{"rendered":"

LONG BEACH, Calif. —\u00a0 It’s time for the Battle at the Beach! Long Beach State will host three games over three days as the Beach takes on Nobel, Montana State, and hosts a neutral game between those two beginning on Wednesday, November 19 at 7 p.m.
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\nGame:…………………………………. Long Beach State vs. Nobel
\nDate:……………………………. Wednesday, November 19, 2025
\nTime:…………………………………………………………………. 7 p.m.
\nLocation:………………………………………….. Long Beach, Calif.
\nArena:……………………………………….. Walter Pyramid (4,200)
\nTV:…………………………………………………………………… ESPN+
\nTV Talent:……………………… Jason Schwartz, Devin Hudson
\nWebcast:………………………………………………………….. ESPN+
\nRadio:……………………………………………………. 22 West Radio
\nLive Stats:………………….. beachlivestats.statbroadcast.com
\n\u00a0
\nRIGHT AWAY
\n\u2022 Long Beach State hosted Illinois State in the team’s home opener, and came up just short against the Redbirds in an 82-80 loss. Petar Majstorovic<\/a> had 19 points and 7 rebounds while Shaquil Bender<\/a> scored 18 off of the bench for the Beach.
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\n\u2022 The Beach led for over 25 minutes of their last road game at Pacific and held the Tigers to 42.3 percent shooting, but Pacific rallied for a 69-66 win in Stockton. True freshman Gavin Sykes<\/a> had his best game yet, scoring 20 points and adding seven rebounds against the Tigers.
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\n\u2022 Syracuse transfer Petar Majstorovic<\/a> has been an early key for Long Beach State. The sophomore leads Long Beach State in both scoring and rebounding at 11.8 points and 7.5 rebounds per game after playing a key rotation role as a true freshman for the Orangemen last season.
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\n\u2022 In a return to San Diego State for Chris Acker<\/a>, Majstorovic had a strong debut for the Beach, recording his first career double-double in his first game at Long Beach State, scoring 13 points with 10 rebounds, but the Aztecs proved to be too much for the Beach on the night in a 77-45 loss to open the season.
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\n\u2022 Long Beach State for the second straight season faced a massive rebuild, bringing back just one player while adding 13. The team has a higher percentage of returning points, minutes and rebounds than last season despite having two fewer returners, as starting forward Derrick Michael Xzavierro<\/a> renewed his commitment to the team as a starter.
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\n\u2022 Xzavierro ranked in the Top 5 in rebounding last season for the Big West, leading Long Beach State at 6.8 per game. “DMX” started 21 games in total and averaged 5.2 points per game, finishing with four double-doubles in his first season with the Beach after transferring into the program from Grand Canyon.
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\n\u2022 Acker returns for his second season at Long Beach State. The Beach, led by Honorable Mention All-Big West selection Devin Askew<\/a>, had a strong December that saw the Beach grab road wins over San Diego and Pepperdine as well as Big West victories against Cal State Fullerton, but ultimately ended the season 7-25 overall.
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\n\u2022 Long Beach State’s staff remains intact from Acker’s first year, with John Montgomery<\/a>, Anthony Santos<\/a> and Philip Scott as the assistant coaches supported by director of basketball operations Ali Tavakol<\/a> and Jacob Eyman<\/a>, the director of player relations.
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\n\u2022 In addition to the opener against San Diego State, Long Beach State will play another marquee opponent, traveling to Iowa State to face the Cyclones for the first time in program history. Outside of that game and league play to Hawai’i, Long Beach State will remain in California, playing 16 home games and hosting a neutral contest as part of the Battle at the Beach in November, hosting Nobel and Montana State.
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\nPLAYER NOTES
\n\u2022 The first Division I scholarship player from Indonesia, Derrick Michael Xzavierro<\/a> is Long Beach State’s lone returner, a junior with two years of eligibility remaining. DMX suffered a significant injury with a collapsed lung just before his first season, costing him his 2022-23 campaign and affecting his first competitve season with GCU, but Xzavierro had a strong debut season for the Beach, leading LBSU in rebounding and blocked shots while starting 21 games with four double-doubles.
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\n\u2022 Petar Majstorovic<\/a> has been a key starter for Long Beach State in the front court this season. Opening the year with a double-double at San Diego State, Majstorovic has led Long Beach State in rebounding in all four games this season and is averaging 11.8 points per game after transferring from Syracuse. Majstorovic set a new career-high with 19 points against Illinois State, and had a career-high in rebounding with 10 in his double-double against the Aztecs.
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\n\u2022 Born in Serbia, Majstorovic spent the majority of his life in France, and has played a mentorship role for another Frenchman in Leopold Levillain<\/a>, a true freshman joining the Beach out of Montpellier. Levillain last played for the semipro club Cholet Basket, and averaged 9.8 points and 5.9 rebounds per game for the club’s U21 team as a relatively new convert to basketball after originally playing rugby in France. Levillain had his first start against Fresno State, and set a career-high with seven points against Illinois State.
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\n\u2022 True freshman Gavin Sykes<\/a> had a breakthrough game against Pacific, scoring 20 points to lead Long Beach State and is now second on the Beach in scoring at 10.8 points per game while trailing only Majstorovic in rebounding at 4.5 boards per contest. Sykes averaged over 20 points per game last season with Modesto Christian HS.
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\n\u2022 The other member of Long Beach State’s freshman signing class, Dallas Washington<\/a> was a top-rated recruit and has contributed early with the Beach, averaging 3.5 points and 2.0 rebounds per game as another key player in the Beach rotation.
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\n\u2022 The top incoming scorer for Long Beach State is graduate transfer Shaquil Bender<\/a>. Bender played two seasons of junior college basketball before joining Manhattan, where he starred for two seasons with the Jaspers. Bender averaged 11.2 points per game and made 63 assists while helping Manhattan with a 10-game turnaround after leading the team in scoring as a junior in 2023-24.Bender is now third on the team in scoring at 10.5 points per game after putting up 18 against Illinois State.
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\n\u2022 Long Beach State added a pair of brothers in Isaiah and Immanuel Lewis<\/a>, who will be playing on the same team for the first time since their days at Taft HS in Southern California. Isaiah joins the Beach from Division I Little Rock, where he averaged 9.4 points per game and made 99 assists, while Immanuel averaged 6.2 points per game with Nobel, a 2025-26 opponent of Long Beach State.
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\n\u2022 Isaiah Lewis<\/a> has been a key figure for the Beach in the early part of the season, second on the team in minutes played while starting the first four games of the season at point guard. Lewis is fourth on the team at 8.5 points per game while making 10 assists on the year.
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\n\u2022 Another Division I transfer in Cole Farrell<\/a> joined Long Beach State from Portland State. Farrell spent two seasons with the Vikings, and averaged 6.5 points per game while shooting 37.7% from three last year. Farrell has started four games so far for Long Beach State.
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\n\u2022 Shay Johnson Jr.<\/a> is very familiar with Acker, having spent three seasons with him as an assistant coach at San Diego State. The 6-10 senior will join the program after having primarily played as a backup with the Aztecs during a number of successful seasons. Johnson is averaging 11.7 minutes per game so far with the Beach.
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\n\u2022 Rob Diaz III<\/a> is another transfer, but one coming from Division II after two strong seasons at Cal Poly Humboldt. Diaz was the CCAA Freshman of the Year in 2023-24 after averaging 12.5 points per game, and then earned First Team All-CCAA honors after leading the Lumberjacks in scoring, averaging 16.0 points per game and shooting 36.5 percent from behind the arc. Diaz is averaging 6.3 points per game and is leading the team in assists this season.
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\n\u2022 Pulling from within the conference, Long Beach State also added forward JJ Chaikovsky<\/a>, who redshirted last season at CSUN after playing nine games as a true freshman with NJIT in 2023-24. Chaikovsky made his first appearance for the Beach at Pacific, with a solid stretch in the front court against the Tigers.
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\n\u2022 Long Beach State also added one junior college transfer in 6-4 guard Christian Jones<\/a>. Jones spent last season at Angelina College in Texas, where he averaged 10.4 points and 4.1 rebounds per game while shooting 45.6 percent from three, going 28-7 overall and reaching the NJCAA national quarterfinals while leading the team in scoring. Jones is averaging 2.3 points and 1.5 rebounds for the Beach this season.
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