January 8, 1998
No wonder 49ers feel right at home
College basketball: L.B. sleeps at Pyramid, then knocks off Nevada.
By GORDON VERRELL
Staff writer Long Beach Press Telegram
Long Beach State's men's basketball team has put out squatter's rights on the Pyramid, and so far its working.
Coach Wayne Morgan ordered up a score of hotel-type cots and put his 49ers to beddy-bye right there in the Pyramid, and they woke up in plenty of time Thursday night to knock off the University of Nevada, 68-58.
"We want to demonstrate that it's our home, that we sleep here," Morgan said of the 49ers' live-in. "With all the stuff going on in here . . . women's basketball, volleyball . . . we've been in and out of here. We slept here (Wednesday) night and we'll sleep here again (tonight)."
That's on the eve of the 49ers' game Saturday night at the Pyramid against Utah State. If they win that one they'll no doubt move in for good; the 49ers haven't started a Big West Conference season 3-0 in 18 years.
As it is they're 2-0 in conference for the first time in Morgan's three seasons.
"We've got everybody back, now, and it's really making a difference," said center Mate Milisa, who scored 19 points and grabbed nine rebounds. "For a long time we didn't have a point guard. Now we do (Charles O'Neal). Without him, it was a big miss."
It was a bittersweet day for Milisa. He celebrated his 23rd birthday, but also grieved over the death of his grandmother, Matija, in his homeland, Croatia.
"I learned about it when we got home from Idaho," he said. "We were very close. It's been a tough week. I've been stressed a lot."
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Milisa scored 11 of the 49ers' first 15 points. But Nevada (4-7, 0-1), with three losses in a row and four in its last five games, stayed close, and with 13:19 remaining had a five-point lead, 45-40.
The 49ers (5-7, 2-0) then went on a 14-0 run, and going on top by as many as 11, 60-49, when Richie Smalls tossed in a short jumper with 3 1/2 minutes remaining.
"We had that one cold spell and it hurt us," said veteran Nevada coach Pat Foster. "They finally broke us down. Their size hurt us late."
The Wolf Pack was playing without its leading rebounder, Dimitrios Marmarinos, who was sidelined with a bruised right shoulder. Still, Nevada outrebounded the 49ers, 31-27.
"They got more rebounds, that's why," Morgan explained. "We did a better job in the second half. Everyone did, right down to the team manager. Ron Johnson did a good job . . . you can't have a more productive nine minutes than he did (eight points and two rebounds). And (assistant) Coach Clyde Vaughan suggested we go to a zone (defense), and it paid off."
The Wolf Pack went without a field goal for six minutes as the 49ers built their lead.
Rock Lloyd had 17 points and Smalls 12. O'Neal scored only two but he had seven assists, high by any 49er all season.
John Burrell led Nevada with 20 points and Derrick Anderson had 12.
The 49ers also turned the ball over only 13 times, giving them just 23 in their last two games.