Long Beach Can See the Bottom From Here

Long Beach State, not yet pushed off the cliff but getting a close-up view of the rocky terrain below, still has more questions than answers.

The problems pop up less frequently, but the breaks elude Coach Wayne Morgan and his players. That much was clear after Cal State Fullerton defeated Long Beach State, 78-75, Monday night in a Big West Conference game at Titan Gym, stopping a seven-game losing streak to the 49ers.

Improvement has been obvious and, at times, dramatic in some areas for the 49ers. And maybe that would be enough in certain situations--but not now. Not when you’re moving head first into a worse-case scenario with little to feel good about.

Division-leading Pacific awaits for Long Beach on Saturday, and on the road at that. Neither prospect is too comforting for the 49er coaches and players, who know trouble when they see it.

“No doubt about it, the Pacific game is real important for us,” said Brandon Titus, who scored a career- and game-high 27 points.

“[Playing Pacific] will kind of let us see where we’re at against the rest of this conference. This will be a good test because Pacific is supposed to be at the top of the conference.”

Long Beach was supposed to be there too.

The 49ers were the popular preseason choice of college basketball magazines to win the conference’s Western Division. Most of the magazines picked Pacific second.

Pacific has held up its part of the bargain, going 11-1 and 2-0 in the Big West. Long Beach (5-8, 1-2) hasn’t been as fortunate.

The most frustrating moments for Long Beach occur on the road, where it is 1-6.

A loss to Pacific wouldn’t mean lights out for Long Beach, but they would get dimmer. Long Beach wants to keep fan interest and support high, and that’s harder to accomplish as the losses mount.

A feeling of urgency is overcoming the 49ers.

“We can’t lose another conference game,” Titus said. “We really can’t lose another conference game on the road. If you want to get to the [NCAA] tournament, you have to win games on the road. You have to.”

The situation is clear: This could be one of those defining moments--or more of the same story. The 49ers believe it’s all up to them.

“I’m not going to say we’re going to put any extra pressure on ourselves, but we’re going to go up there and play even harder than we did [against Fullerton],” guard Tommie Davis said. “We’re getting better, we just have to keep doing what we’re doing.”