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The duo from Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire were the difference in Long Beach State’s Big West Conference men’s basketball opener.
Aboubacar Traore and Lassina Traore put up huge numbers during an 81-71 win at Cal State Fullerton on Thursday night. They combined for 39 rebounds, which was five more than the Titans had in the game.
LBSU (9-4, 1-0) is on a six-game winning streak and up next is the conference home opener against Cal State Northridge on Saturday. Tipoff is 1 p.m.
A. Traore had a career-high 23 points, 22 rebounds and six assists while becoming the third LBSU player to have a 20/20 night since 1983. It’s the third time in his career with 20+ rebounds and now he’s seventh in rebounding in LBSU history.
L. Traore finished with 16 points and a career-high 17 rebounds for his seventh double-double of the season.
READ MORE about the Traores journey to Long Beach.
Cal State Fullerton (7-6, 0-1) used its active defense to take a 21-11 lead, but the Beach responded with a 15-2 run to take the lead. The Titans closed the half well and led 38-32 at halftime.
Fullerton led 59-55 with eight minutes left but LBSU came up with the best six minutes of defense it’s played all season to hold the Titans scoreless. Meanwhile, Isa Silva and AJ George both had big buckets during a 14-0 run for the Beach. That six-minute stretch gave LBSU the lead for good.
LBSU guard Marcus Tsohonis scored 17 points and Jadon Jones chipped in 11 points and a pair of blocks.
