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Long Beach State faced a defining test at home against second-place Pacific on Wednesday night, but failed miserably in a 74-52 loss that left the 49ers looking like a team in disarray.<\/p>\nLong Beach State faced a defining test at home against second-place Pacific on Wednesday night, but failed miserably in a 74-52 loss that left the 49ers looking like a team in disarray.<\/p>\n
Pacific forward Pat Eveland led all scorers off the bench with 23 points on 9-10 shooting. The Tigers shot 53.1% from the field overall and closed the game on a 22-4 run.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe weren\u2019t really confident in each other down the stretch,\u201d said head coach Dan Monson, after meeting with his team for nearly two hours before addressing the media.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s the most unacceptable thing; that we broke.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Long Beach offense stalled against Pacific defenders that seemed to predict every cut, pick and pass. The 49ers were held 17 points below their season average and shot just 37.5% from the field to go with 4-18 from three-point range and a dismal 40% from the free-throw line. Long Beach\u2019s three starting guards combined to shoot 5-20 from the field.<\/p>\n
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\u201cI would definitely say our problems now are more mental that physical,\u201d said Monson. \u201cPacific feasts on teams that don\u2019t play with a lot of confidence.\u201d<\/p>\n
Forwards Eugene Phelps and T.J. Robinson led the 49ers with 13 and 11 points, respectively. Robinson, the team\u2019s leading scorer and the conference\u2019s leading rebounder, was limited to just 19 minutes of playing time due to foul trouble.<\/p>\n
Pacific built an early 31-18 lead but the 49ers closed the gap to 33-26 at halftime. Long Beach struggled early in the second half but Phelps and Robinson scored eight consecutive points to pull within 52-48.<\/p>\n
From there on out, it was all Pacific.<\/p>\n
The Tigers looked sharp and the 49ers liked flat, scoring just four points in the final 9:02 of the game. Eveland scored nine of his 23 points during that stretch to give Pacific the 72-54 road win.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe tried to outscore them rather than getting stops,\u201d Monson said. \u201cWe\u2019re grasping for some leadership \u2013 we\u2019re grasping for some answers.\u201d<\/p>\n
The 49ers again looked static offensively against a zone defense.<\/p>\n
Long Beach State has now lost two straight after rallying to win four out of five. The 49ers will head to Idaho this Saturday in a non-conference matchup before finishing the last three games of the Big West schedule.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe had a good team meeting, the guys just don\u2019t know how to change it,\u201d Monson said of the extensive postgame meeting in the locker room. \u201cI don\u2019t think there\u2019s any one problem or any one answer.\u201d<\/p>\n
But with the 49ers continuing to grapple with confidence issues, Coach Monson has been searching for answers for the better part of the Big West Conference schedule. Is it still considered \u201cunderachieving\u201d if a team underachieves on a consistent basis? But sometime soon, Monson may be forced to consider the possibility that his team is simply mediocre.<\/p>\n