Aggies cruise on ESPN to victory over “the Beach”
By Reuben Wadsworth
Utah State small forward Curtis Bobb said his squad wasn’t trying to make a statement playing in front of a national television audience Thursday night. However, the Aggies made a statement to Long Beach State University by defeating the 49ers 76-60.
“We just came out hard and played our game,” Bobb said. “We’re glad we got noticed a little bit.”
The game was never in doubt for the Aggies as they pulled ahead for good after an 8-8 tie with 14:27 remaining in the first half on their way to a 35-29 halftime lead.
After starting hot in the second half with a 7-0 run, the Aggies slowed down and went scoreless for a four and a half minute stretch until reserves Dion Bailey and Jeremy Vague sparked them back to life. Bailey scored seven of his 10 points in the last 10 minutes of the second half while Vague scored eight of his 12 points in the same stretch.
USU head coach Stew Morrill said Bailey had “a good run” and that Vague was “active on the glass” and “powered the ball up.”
Morrill said the team showed again how unselfish it is Thursday night. That was evident by point guard Bernard Rock’s nine assists.
Bobb led USU with 16 points, including 4-of-6 from 3-point range. The other Aggie in double figures was Shawn Daniels, who added 10.
The Aggies played especially good defense on LBSU’s Ramel Lloyd, holding the 19.3-average scorer to only six points and 2-of-12 from the field.
“Every shot he had, it was contested,” Bobb said.
USU’s Tony Brown was assigned to guard Lloyd much of the night. Morrill said Brown has come a long way as far as defense goes. Jokingly, Morrill said Brown couldn’t even guard a chair as a freshman.
Morrill was also happy about his team’s overall defense against the LBSU. He said he felt good about keeping the 49ers to only 39 percent from the floor. The Aggies shot 52.8 percent themselves.