Long Beach State upsets Hawaii 50-49 in men’s basketball

Long Beach State, the last-place team in the Big West, upset host Hawaii 50-49 at the Stan Sheriff Center tonight. Beach guard Michael Carter made the deciding free throw with 3 seconds left.

The Rainbow Warriors (14-9, 5-4 Big West) lost their third game in a row, their longest slide of the season. A gathering of 3,112 saw UH lose its first game at home since falling to Georgia Tech last Christmas during the Diamond Head Classic.

Hawaii went long periods without scoring, helping LBSU break its three-game losing streak and improve to 8-17 and 3-6 in the conference.

Eddie Stansberry scored 19 points, but didn’t have much help for most of the game, especially from long-distance. Justin Webster was the only Rainbows player other than Stansberry to make a 3-pointer, hitting one with 3:16 left to close the score to 46-44.

Stansberry hit a 3-pointer to tie it at 47 with 1:46 left.

Zigmars Raimo was called for an offensive foul with 1:20 left, but Webster was then fouled after a steal. His two free throws put Hawaii up 49-47.

LBSU’s Romelle Mansel then tied it at 49-all with a basket in the paint.

After a UH turnover, LBSU worked for a final shot. Carter missed an 18-foot jumper, but was fouled by Drew Buggs and made his first free throw. He missed the second one. UH got the rebound, and Webster launched a desperation 22-footer that went off the backboard as time expired.

LBSU led 24-22 after a first half that Hawaii led for much of, including a seven-point advantage.

Stansberry’s 3-pointer gave the Rainbows a 7-5 edge at the 14:57 mark, and the Beach didn’t retake the lead until Drew Cobb’s basket capped a nine-point run and made it 22-20 with 4:16 to go until the break.

Joshua Morgan led LBSU with 11 points.