The562’s coverage of Long Beach State athletics for the 2025-26 season is sponsored by Marilyn Bohl.
After a tough road loss to one of the nation’s top teams, the Long Beach State men’s basketball program got exactly what it needed – a break.
With nine days of rest and some time apart from each other the Beach was back on the court and had their best offensive performance of the season as they defeated Lincoln University 113-66 Tuesday night at LBS Financial Credit Union Pyramid.
The Beach had a season high 31 assists on 48 made baskets and after trailing 12-11 Petar Majstorovic got an early dunk to give LBSU the lead and they didn’t look back.
“That was a great win for us after a nice little break away from each other,” Long Beach State coach Chris Acker said. “So I was excited that our guys came in and I just told them after the game that it was a very professional win, took care of the ball and shared the ball.”
Majstorovic’s dunk jumpstarted a 10-0 for the Beach as LBSU got baskets from Shay Johnson Jr., Gavin Sykes and Shaquil Bender to push the lead to 20-12.
Bender was one of three Beach athletes to score in double figures as Majstorovic scored 14 and Sykes scored 12 points to go with Bender’s 10 points. Rob Diaz chipped in eight assists to go with his 7 points and five rebounds.
In the second half, Cole Farrell kept the offensive onslaught going for the Beach as he scored 16 points and shot an efficient 7-9 from the field as the Long Beach State dominated in the paint going 26-33 on layups and outscored the Oaklanders 78-66 with their in-the-paint efficiency.
“One thing about this group is they really like each other,” Ackers said. “So, they believe every game that they go into that they can win the game.”
From the opening tip, LBSU had more energy and fed off each other as everyone that entered the game scored.
With the win LBSU closes out the year with a win in their final non-conference contest and will start 2026 against Cal Poly on Saturday looking to star the new year much like the ended the current on.
“The bottom line for this team, not to sound cliche, but the reality of it is we have to continue to improve,” Acker said. “I think really good teams continue to improve throughout the course of the season. We just want to win.”
