HAPPY NEW YEAR, BEACH FANS!

Best wishes to all for a happy 2009. Men's BB enters the new year with a 5-7 record, with conference play starting this weekend against UCSB and Cal Poly at the Walter Pyramid. WBB enters BWC play at 3-8, and opens at Santa Barbara and Cal Poly Friday and Sunday. You can also catch an early glimpse of 49er Men's Volleyball this weekend as they play two exhibitions against Canadian champions University of Alberta. Game one will be Friday at 4pm in the Goldmine. Game 2 will be at 6pm in the Pyramid. Preseason polls have The Beach picked 3rd in the MPSF behind Pepperdine and UCLA.


Just for fun as we send out the new year, here are a few images of the various and sundry athletic logos we've had over the years. Again, Happy New Year, and be safe!

One Last Shot...

Big Monday Turnaround For Beach Hoops

After Saturday's disappointing losses to Montana State by the men, and BYU by the women, both squads rebounded yesterday for big wins in another early doubleheader. This time, the women led off with a 74-61 victory over New Mexico State. Whitney Fields came off the bench to pour in 30 points for The Beach, Adelle Walton added 10 points and 6 assists, and Brett Timmons cleared 11 boards. Then, in the Main Event of the day, Monson's Minions stormed back from an 8-point first-half deficit to take a 13 point lead late in the second half, then withstood a furious Owl comeback to hold on for the 76-71 upset win. Donovan Morris led the way for the 49ers with 23 points, 9 rebounds and 5 assists, along with 5-6 FT shooting down the stretch to seal the victory. Freshman TJ Robinson was huge for The Beach in the second half, scoring 16 of his career-best 18 points after halftime. Stephan Gilling added 15 points, including 3 big 3-pointers, and 6-6 FT shooting. Temple star Dionte Christmas scored 19 points, all in the second half, eight of which came in the last few minutes of the game as the Owls tried to make the comeback.

Also key to the men's win was the standout playing of "Superstar" by the Big Brown Music Machine Alumni Band, making a special guest appearance for the big game to fill in for the 49er Pep Band as they take their holiday break.

Sightings through the Snow

Greetings from snow-covered Barstow, where we're still digging out from a near-record snowstorm (a whole six inches of accumulation...the record is nine inches back in 1967), and paralyzed highways which have been on the LA and Las Vegas news. Now I remember why I don't want to live in the mountains! LOL

Anyway, while attending the RCC Holiday basketball tournament last week, before the storms hit, I spotted ex-MBB assistant Reggie Howard doing some scouting. Apparently, he's landed in my backyard, almost literally, over at Barstow College, as the head coach. Hopefully, he's doing better than the previous coach, who had several players with legal troubles last season.

This got me to thinking, "what is Larry Reynolds doing?" Turns out he's back at Cal State San Bernardino, according to the September, 2008, minutes of the university president's council meeting:

"Dr. Aguilar announced that Larry Reynolds, former basketball coach, has been hired on a one-year appointment and will be working with Athletics and Alumni Affairs on special projects."

Lots of pre-Christmas basketball this weekend, with a Saturday doubleheader starting at 3pm, featuring the men against Montana State, and the women against BYU. Monday afternoon's action starts at 3:30 with the women vs. New Mexico State (no longer the Roadrunners, BTW), then the men against Dionte Christmas and Temple.

Merry Christmas, and GO BEACH!

49er Hoop Recruits Tidbits

Looks like 49er MBB recruit Jules Montgomery is off to a good start at Chaminade Prep this season. Here's a link to his stats so far this season from MaxPreps.

Kyle Richardson is also drawing some early season raves from the recruiting experts. Thanks to "danimal" for finding this blurb on Kyle from ESPN.com and Scouts inc's Joel Francisco:

December, 2008: The signing of Richardson by Long Beach State may turn out to be the biggest steal on the early signing period. He is a youthful looking talent with a very bright future. He plays much bigger than his listed height due to his Andrew Bynum-esque length. He has remarkable agility considering his size and very soft hands. His offensive game is still in its infantile stage, but he has a great feel for the game and has a tremendous knack to score. His footwork is solid for a big and he possesses a great touch around the basket. He needs to pick up his intensity, specifically on the defensive end, but overall his ceiling is very high.

Again, Yuba College's Tristan Wilson is currently playing in the Riverside CC Holiday Tournament, going on thru Saturday.

Hoops & Hot Stove Dirtbags News

MBB plays a rematch tonight at Weber State, starting at 5pm PST. Frank Burlison reports in his column that one of the officials will be former 49er Kevin Cutler, who also officiated in the 49er victory at Idaho State. The column also notes that Legends in Belmont Shore will be showing the Syracuse game, bright and early at 9am Saturday.


49er signee Tristan Wilson and his Yuba JC 49ers defeated Palomar College yesterday, 77-65, in the first round of the RCC tournament in Riverside. Here's the boxscore. Yuba faces Pasadena CC today at 1pm. The winner of that game faces either Saddleback or Citrus tomorrow at 5pm.



In MLB Winter Meetings news from Las Vegas, ex-Dirtbag outfielder Jeremy Reed is now an ex-Mariner, as he was sent to the NY Mets as part of a 3-team, 12-player blockbuster deal, which featured Reed's teammate, closer J.J. Putz, also heading to Gotham. Another ex-DB, pitcher Jason Vargas, goes to Seattle from the Mets. Here's the story from MLB.com.
(image credit: MLB.com)

WE'RE NUMBER ONE!!!

...at least in the Sagarin ratings! :)

Today's Jeff Sagarin ratings of the Big West have LB as the highest rated team at #131, actually down about 20 spots or so from before the loss to USF. UCSB is next at #135.

Another power ratings site, TeamRankings.com, rates The Beach at #99 in the nation. UCSB is also 2nd on their Big West list at #131.

Morris Blowing Up

Donovan Morris earned his second-straight Big West MBB Player of the Week honor for his work against Pepperdine and USF last week. LBPostSports.com has more details. They also have some nice video on their site of the Pepperdine game. The boys' next game is a rematch at Weber State on Thursday, before heading off to Syracuse for a lunchtime tilt (9am PST) on Saturday.

Quick congrats to WBB, winning their first road game this season, holding off Idaho, 55-54. Freshman PG Adelle Walton led the way with 11 points.

MBB Wins 3rd in a Row, WVB Learns It's Fate

Donovan Morris poured in 30 points, and with the help of Casper Ware and Larry Anderson, keyed an 11-2 run over the final two minutes, to lead the 49'rs over New Mexico State last night, 82-77. Morris nailed a 3-pointer with 1:56 to go to cut the Aggie lead to 75-74. Soon after, Ware hit two of the six free throws he would make down the stretch to give The Beach the lead for good, 76-75. Anderson also contributed a punctuating dunk off a Ware steal during the game-clinching run. Ware tied his career high with 15 points, and pulled down a team-high six rebounds, while Anderson dropped in 9 points off the bench. Jahmar Young led the young Aggies with 17 points, and Wendell McKines added 16 points, all in the first half. The win gives The Beach its first 3-game winning streak in the Dan Monson era, and they'll try to extend it to four games on Wednesday as they host the rebuilding Pepperdine Waves. Tip-off is at 7pm.

Read Frank Burlison's Press-Telegram game story here.


Read the Las Cruces Sun-News story here.





Women's Volleyball found out last night they'll be heading to Stanford for their 1st-round NCAA matchup this weekend with Pepperdine, with the winner likely facing the 2nd-seeded Cardinal in the second round at Maples Pavilion. Long Beach was the only Big West team selected for postseason.
(image credit; "RobertCB")

Women's Basketball takes on Portland State tonight in the Walter Pyramid. Tip-off is at 7pm.