Daily 49er, January 28 2019

LONG BEACH STATE | VOL. LXX, ISSUE 25 | JANUARY 28, 2019

D 49

er

An altercation began after associate head coach Myke Scholl had a conflict with UCSB director of basketball operations David Miller during the postgame handshake line.

page 12

DISORDER on the

COURT

2 NEWS

MONDAY, JANUARY 28, 2019 | DAILY49ER.COM | CITYD49ER@GMAIL.COM

INSIDE

ON THE COVER

THE

NINER Student Success Center opens to the public page 3

Associate head coach Myke Scholl speaks to UCSB associate head John Rillie after a scrum breaks out betweeen both teams.

PHOTO BY AUSTIN BRUMBLAY Daily 49er

GLAMFA invites artists from greater Los Angeles page 6

Daily 49er Editorial Office Phone (562) 985-8000

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1250 Bellflower Blvd., LA4-201 Long Beach, CA 90840-4601 Kat Schuster Editor in Chief eicd49er@gmail.com

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Austin Brumblay d49ernews@gmail.com

News Editor Sports Editor

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Interim Arts & Life Editor

Long Beach State tennis begins season with a win page 11

Multimedia Managing Editor Advertising Account Executive

Paula Kiley Eddie Infante d49ads@gmail.com

Copy Editor Design Editor

INJURY

Photo Editor

Pyramid donor Mike Walter suffers head laceration

By Austin Brumblay News Editor adbrumblay

Mike Walter, namesake of the Walter Pyramid, suffered a head laceration after tripping and falling while leaving Friday night’s men’s volleyball game.

Walter was walking down the Pyramid steps on his way to the parking structure in lot G11 when the incident occured. He was accompanied by President Jane Close Conoley and her husband.

Jaimeelea Tipton, a junior communications major witnessed the scene and said she saw Walter “face down” on the sidewalk prior to emergency services arriving.

University Police Department officers were first to respond to the incident. Emergency services were dispatched and transported Walter to the Long Beach Memorial Medical center. His current condition is unknown.

Long Beach State renamed the Pyramid in 2005 in honor of Walter and his wife Arline after they donated $2.1 million to the university.

Walter is the former vice-president of Levi Strauss & Co and served as the dean of the LBSU College of Business from 1993 to 2000.

This story will be updated.

James Chow Claudia Mehranbod Ryan Guitare

Social Media Editor

Lizbeth Galeno

Video Editor

Adam Pacheco

Assistant Design Editor

Mia Bradford

Assistant Copy Editor

Sarah Vehrs

Assistant News Editor

Hannah Getahun

News Assistant

Suzane Jlelati

Deputy Sports Editor

Alex Manfredi

Assistant Sports Editor

Bryan Aparicio

Assistant Sports Editor

Sierra Martinez

Assistant Photo Editor

Sabrina Flores

Social Media Assistant

Cristal Gomez

Social Media Assistant

Brenna Enos

Design Adviser

Gary Metzker

Content Adviser Advertising and Business Adviser

Barbara Kingsley-Wilson Jennifer Newton

Editorials: All opinions expressed in the columns, letters and cartoons in this issue are those of the writers or artists. The opinions of the Daily 49er are expressed only in unsigned editorials and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the journalism department or the views of all staff members. All such editorials are written by the editorial board of the Daily 49er.

VICTORIA SANCHEZ | CSULB Publications

Arline and Mike Walter. Walter fell at Friday night’s game and suffered a head injury.

Letters Policy: All letters and email must bear the phone number of the writer and must be no more than 300 words. The Daily 49er reserves the right to edit letters for publication in regard to space.

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NEWS 3

CAMPUS

Construction finished on the Student Success Center After over a year of development, the new building is open for business.

By Rachel Barnes Staff Writer

S

tudents can now use the new Student Success Center, located in upper campus in front of the 49er Shops Bookstore, after opening early January after over a year of construction.

Construction on the Student Success Center began on Sept. 23, 2017 with a hard deadline of Dec. 22, 2018.

One of the biggest challenges manifested during demolition of the old building when the team found unforeseen, hazardous materials such as asbestos, according to Mark Zakhour, director of Design and Construction Services.

“When you open up the wall of a 1955 building, you don’t really know what you’re going to get,” Zakhour said.

The construction team also faced ground leveling and weather issues that caused delays, including heavy rainfall that occurred in the last six weeks.

Despite some delays, construction finished on time with only a few small things still left to do, according to Zakhour.

He projected that construction will be finished before the end of March. The project cost $44.9 million, and was funded by state bonds.

“The project was mainly revolved around the students,” said Zakhour. “We wanted to consolidate all of the student services throughout the campus into one building.”

Inside the building, students have access to a second-story lounge with electrical outlets and comfortable chairs to study in. This lounge area overlooks the free-speech lawn and the courtyard outside. Outside of the building, there is a courtyard equipped with

tables, benches and WiFi. The building is home to student services including the University Center for Undergraduate Advising, the Educational Opportunity Program, and the Bob Murphy Access Center for disabled students.

The UCUA has been established in the building for about two weeks. Elaina Pugne, front desk administrative assistant for the UCUA, said that they “love” their new space because of its centralized location. Its previous location was in the Horn Center on lower campus.

Pugne said that the new center makes it much easier for students to have access to a variety of services they need. Before the move, the UCUA would have to refer students to services that were across the campus from them.

“Instead of having to refer students out, we are able to send them within the building,” Pugne said.

Pugne added that all of the services were specifically placed in the building to help guide LBSU students on the path to success. Zakhour echoed this statement and said that the services were all selected to increase graduation rates.

With the completion, the Student Success Center marks the beginning of many other projects on campus.

The upcoming projects include renovations to the microbiology building which will take place this summer and a new alumni center which will begin construction in fall 2019.

Perhaps the largest upcoming project is the student housing project that will include 470 beds, and is the first housing project for the school in 30 years, according to Zakhour. The project is set to break ground in July and projected to be finished in May 2021.

Photos by PAULA KILEY | Daily 49er

First years Giselle Suarez (left) and Lourdes Quezada (right) work together in the newly constructed building (above). Students walk outside the Student Success Center, located in upper campus. (below).

4 NEWS

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RECOGNITION

Chemistry professor helps students ‘achieve their dreams’ in STEM Stephen Meyzk accepts Wang Family Excellence award for his continued support of science research

By Hannah Getahun Assistant News Editor hannahgetahun

Long Beach State chemistry professor Stephen Meyzk has spent the last 18 years motivating students to pursue education and research in science, technology, engineering and mathematics.

“I enjoy getting my students excited about science, and to learn to think both critically and logically,” Meyzk said.

Meyzk encourages them to seek opportunities at national and international research conferences. Using his 30 years of research experience in areas such as wastewater remediation and nuclear waste recycling, he advises students on how to conduct their own research.

“This experience gives my students research experience and confidence they can use to succeed in their careers and education after they leave CSULB,” Meyzk said.

His work was recognized Tuesday during a California State University Board of Trustees meeting when he was presented the Wang Family Excellence award for Outstanding Faculty Innovator in Student Success. The award is given to four CSU faculty and one staff member every year for their

work as professors.

“It is a great honor to be the first recipient of the Wang award at LBSU since 2001,” Meyzk said via email.

“I am very grateful to have had the opportunity to work in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry CSULB with some of the best STEM professor Stephen Meyzk was recently honored with an award for Outstanding Faculty Innovator undergraduate and in Student Success. He teaches general chemistry and conducts science research on campus.

MS students I’ve ever seen.”

The award includes a $20,000 prize and norities in STEM fields. eral chemistry concept, ultimately graduate recognition from the CSU. “While success means different things to with a Ph.D. and become a professor him“During [Meyzk’s] time [here, he] has different people, my overall goal as a profesself,” Meyzk said. been a source of inspiration and pioneered sor is to help students achieve their dreams new paths for student success,” said Timoupon graduation from LBSU,” Meyzk said.

Meyzk hopes to bring more students into thy P. White, CSU Chancellor, during the Meyzk said that the way to help students STEM professions by piquing their interest, BOT meeting. succeed is to help them outside the class while they are freshmen. He said he appreciMezyk teaches general chemistry and through offering further educational assisates the university’s continued effort to suphelps students one-on-one. He works with a tance such as supplemental instruction and port students in STEM by providing funding research group that studies “cancer-causing peer-mentoring. opportunities. chemicals, how radiation affects the proAccording to the university press release, cesses of recycling nuclear waste and how Mezyk’s methods of teaching have lowered “I get inspired from the students’ efforts, to create drinking water out of wastewater the failure and withdrawal rate in chemistry their hard work, their view of the world, contaminated by chemicals,” according to a at LBSU from 50 percent to 30 percent. what’s important to them and how they use university press release. The research group “It’s amazing to see one my research stutechnology to achieve what they want,” Meyconsists of students, many of whom are midents, who was once struggling with a genzk said. “I get to enjoy learning from them.”

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Email opedd49er@gmail.com

NEWS 5

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EXTRA CURRICULAR

Rocket club soars to new heights After multiple failed attempts, the club successfully launches their student-built rocket.

By Nikki Nelson

Contributing Writer

A successful lift off has prompted the Beach Launch team to construct a new and improved liquid propelled rocket named “Beach 2 ‘Karmen,’” while preparing for three engineering and aerospace competitions in 2019.

The club has launched two rockets since becoming a student operated entity, including its first ever liquid propelled rocket, Beach 1, that was launched Jan. 5, 2019 after two failed previous attempts.

“The best part about launching Beach 1 was just watching it go up in the sky,” said Andrey Ruf, aerospace engineering major and BLT chief engineering officer. “We’ve been trying to get this rocket off the ground

for almost a year now, so we were all very much like, ‘This needs to happen because we needed a win for the team.’”

The launch team manufactured and perfected Beach 1 in hopes of competing with other colleges in the 2018 Friends of Amateur Rocketry competition.

Once the team realized its rocket would not be flight-ready by the May 2018 contest deadline, BLT pulled out of the competition along with postponing Beach 1’s original launch date.

“Everyone but one school, the University of California, Los Angeles, decided to go through, and their rocket exploded,” Ruf said.

When July rolled around, BLT traveled to the Mojave Desert ready to launch Beach 1. However, high summer temperatures caused the rocket’s computer malfunctioned which delayed the launch.

The team returned to the desert in October for yet another attempt to get Beach 1 off the ground. Once again, they were unsuccessful due to a 60-foot launch rail breaking in half delaying the team.

Twenty-five BLT club members returned to the Mojave Desert for a third time at the start of the new year eager to launch and say goodbye to Beach 1 forever. The team launched its rocket to a maximum altitude of 6,000 feet on Jan. 5. “[For] some of us, it [was] our first time watching a student organization launch a rocket,” said Sean Won, the BLT project manager. “Clearly seeing that we can build a powerful rocket motivates members to work harder for the next rocket.”

The goal for the Beach 1 launch was to reach an altitude of 45,000 feet. BLT missed this by 39,000 feet. While celebrating a win for the team and a successful launch, they

AUSTIN BRUMBLAY | Daily 49er

Carlos Sanchez climbs the rocket launch rail to inspect the rocket during prelaunch procedures Oct. 21 in Rand, CA.

are working on achieving a new goal, the improved Beach 2 rocket project.

“We’re doing more trade studies, testing and research to make sure we are getting as efficient as possible,” Ruf said.

The club is looking forward to developing their Beach 2 rocket over the next two years.

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“Mexican, American Paisa Nation #1” (left)

by First year MFA student at Claremont Graduate University William Camargo.

These six photos depict Camargo’s father in different hats. The 2019 GLAMFA logo (above) on one of the gallery doors.

BRENNA ENOS | Daily 49er

EXHIBIT

14th annual GLAMFA returns to LBSU ‘Open Relationships’ provides a collaborative space for MFA students by bringing together 29 artists from the greater Los Angeles area.

By Brenna Enos

Social Media Assistant Editor brennasenos

T

he Greater Los Angeles Master of Fine Arts exhibition has returned to School of Art galleries at Long Beach State for a 14th time with “Open Relationships,” a theme dedicated to fostering collaboration between artists.

GLAMFA will run from Jan. 22 to Jan. 30 with participating MFA student artists from nine schools, including California State University Northridge, California Institute of the Arts and University of California Los Angeles.

This exhibit differs from its predecessors because it encourages communication between the MFA artists. To accomplish this, GLAMFA opened a “Shared

Resources Room” which provides the artists with an on-site space in the Merlino Gallery to read books and essays, watch videos, mingle and drink coffee.

William Camargo, a first year MFA student at Claremont Graduate University, was one of the 29 students participating in the show and said he enjoyed working with other artists throughout the creative process of the show.

“I really like the collaboration and kind of bouncing off each other’s ideas,” Camargo said. “This is the kind of stuff that I want to see more often.”

Camargo features two six-piece photography panels in the exhibition: ”Mexican, American Paisa Nation #1” and “Mexican, American Paisa Nation #2.” In these pieces, Camargo captures the essence of his parents, while also observing gender stereotypes and differences with his mother wearing several aprons and

his father wearing multiple hats. Camargo said much of his work is inspired from his family’s immigration from Mexico; and like his work displayed at GLAMFA, it often captures different aspects of identity, gentrification and immigration. “[I] thought this would be a great way to connect with the community,” said Megan Koth, a first year MFA student at UC Santa Barbara who recently moved from California to Arizona. “The collaborative aspect of GLAMFA also promised a more rich connection than simply having my work traditionally juried in.”

During her process in creating art for the exhibition, Koth was inspired by fellow GLAMFA collaborator and CSUN MFA student, Michael Roman when creating her painting “Barbie Mask.” This self-portrait of Koth is another piece in a continuation of her “Mask” series where she depicts herself in a variety of face

masks. Roman and Koth discussed their artworks and exchanged ideas during their collaboration, which provided some communication challenges for the two, but it did not come without some valuable lessons.

“I was inspired by my GLAMFA collaborator Michael Roman’s works to explore themes of self-transformation and transcendence in relation to the imagery I’ve been exploring,” Roman said. “It’s been great to be introduced to Michael and his work.”

The GLAMFA exhibition is free to the public and can be viewed Monday through Thursday from noon to 5 p.m. and Wednesday from noon until 7 p.m.

A panel discussion with MFA artists and LBSU curators will be held Tuesday from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m.

For more information, visit www. greaterlamfa.com.

ARTS & LIFE 7

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PERFOMANCE

Theater performances bloom at Long Beach The spring CalRep schedule features original stories about community and classic retellings.

By Samantha Diaz Managing Editor samanthadiaz98

J

RYAN GUITARE | Daily 49er

The Theatre Arts Department, located on upper campus released its spring schedule of performances. The schedule includes an original play from an LBSU alum and retellings of classic stories.

eff Janisheski, Chair of the Theater Arts Department and Artistic Director of CalRep, was flipping through the March 2017 issue of Dig Magazine. An article, “Choosing Education Over Incarceration,” caught his eye. As someone whose job is to bring diverse communities together through storytelling, the article struck a chord with Janisheski.

The story was about Project Rebound, a “rehabilitation center for formerly incarcerated individuals entering higher education” and more specifically, about one man and his journey from prison to university.

“I told myself, ‘We have to do something with [Project Rebound],” he said.

The result of this collaboration is “In the Penal Colony,” a play, experimental opera and living story based on real experiences weaving together different mediums of storytelling to tackle the American prison industrial complex. The performance is the latest to join the “Devising Democracy” series, a four-year plan from the California Repertory Company of “being committed to California — addressing issues that are urgent to our local and regional communities,” according to a CalRep press release.

The monthslong process has included interviewing Rising Scholars and Project Rebound members, working with the Long Beach Opera House and meeting with students from the community in order to bring a twist to the classic play in a way that connects to our time.

“It’s a very ambitious project, I thought this could be really exciting,” Janisheski said. “I have no idea how they’re going to work together, but that’s part of the excitement about experimental theater. You’ll figure out how it’s all connected just like I will.”

“In the Penal Colony” is the last of four performances coming to University Theater stages this spring at Long Beach State. It will

run from April 25 through May 5.

Before heading into the classic Franz Kafka dystopian story, students will be treated to a night in a 1930s Berlin nightclub in “Cabaret.” Based on the play by John Van Druten, the dark political commentary uses song and dance to “hold up a mirror to America in a rise to fascism,” according to Janisheski.

“It’s a classic and sadly timely musical,” he added. “It’s deeply political and really important to what we do at CalRep.” “Cabaret” premieres on Feb. 21 and runs through March 3 in the Studio Theater.

Audiences are brought into a more local arena for the second CalRep performance in the spring, with an original play written by Long Beach State alum, Tahirih Moeller. In the world premiere of the hip hop show, “A Live Mixtape,” the public will hear a blend of scenes and poetry based on the neighborhood Moeller grew up in Long Beach.

“I wanted to write something that resembled the neighborhoods I was raised in as well as the people I was raised around,” Moeller said. “I hope that students will see themselves in the many stories I have crafted as well as the overall humanity of many people showcased throughout the story.”

Moeller’s play will open to the public on March 14 and finish its run on March 23.

CalRep returns to its political theme in its third performance of the season with “The Revolutionists,” a comedy set during the French Revolution, reimagining the time period with four distinctly different characters, one being Marie Antoinette herself.

“I read it and I thought, we have to do it,” Janisheski said. “It’s outrageous, irreverent, it’s a very fun but pointed play about power, about the politics of the time that also reflect a bit [of] what’s happening now.”

The rebellious satire takes the stage March 21-29.

For more information on CalRep’s theater schedule or ticket prices, visit http://web. csulb.edu/colleges/cota/theatre/on-stagenow/index.html. Tickets go on sale Feb. 1.

8

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ARTS & LIFE 9

Springing into the new semester

Long Beach students (above) descend the stairs between the 49er Shops Bookstore and The Nugget.

Parking lot G4 (right) is full of cars on the first day of the spring semester. Long Beach students (below) flock past vendors set up near the 49er Shops Bookstore.

RYAN GUITARE & PAULA KILEY | Daily 49er

The first few days of the Spring semester at Long Beach State saw more than a jammed parking lot and overly-congested hallways — it was a weeklong opportunity for students, new and returning, to adjust to campus life. To shake off the slow-paced routine of winter break, students shuffled among the masses to new courses and some capped off the week attending sports events in the Walter Pyramid for the first time. Campus members can look forward to their official Week of Welcome on Wednesday and Thursday. Hosted by Associated Students Inc., the event’s booth keepers will connect students to various clubs and organizations on campus. The festivities will take place in the Central Quad from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.

10 SPORTS

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Senior outside hitter Kyle Ensing spikes the ball against USC defenders during Friday night’s home opener.

MEN’S VOLLEYBALL

AUSTIN BRUMBLAY | Daily 49er

Pyramid gets new banner bling 49ers unveil NCAA Championship flag in home opener in win over USC.

By Bryan Aparicio

Assistant Sports Editor @BryanAparicio_

O

n a night where Long Beach State unveiled the 2018 NCAA Championship banner in front of a crowd of 2,667, the men’s volleyball team rolled through USC 25-17, 26-24, 19-25, 25-17, extending its undefeated season.

Despite dropping the third set and its first of the season, the dropped set served as a wake-up call for the 49ers, pushing them to dominate the Trojans in the fourth set to close out the match.

“We got pressed and that was good,” head coach Alan Knipe said. “You don’t like to lose sets, and this team hasn’t lost a set all season so losing that third was interesting to see how our guys would respond. I was super proud the way we responded right away.”

No. 1 Long Beach had a season-high 13 service aces and were led by senior outside hitter Kyle Ensing, who had 11 kills and six aces and senior setter Josh Tuaniga who had

AUSTIN BRUMBLAY | Daily 49er

Long Beach State Athletics unveils the 2018 men’s volleyball championship banner at Friday night’s game.

35 assists and five aces. The 49ers ended the match hitting .384, while the Trojans hit .237.

Long Beach had issues communicating on the floor in the third set, giving up aces to USC and missing spots. But that didn’t stop the 49ers from finding a way to finish the match on a strong note.

“We were ready to respond, guys were geeked up to play,” Tuaniga said. “A lot of the game plan was going back to execution and being comfortable back at the end line.”

The crowd ignited Long Beach in the second set. When the 49ers had their backs against the wall, the crowd let out a huge roar after Trojans sophomore middle blocker Sam Lewis had a service error that tied the set at 24-24. Long Beach capped off the second set with a 26-24 win after Ensing rose up to get the final kill of the set.

“The crowd really got us into that game, they really helped us out,” Ensing said. “It really pushed us to reset … with a national championship, that really brought in a good crowd.”

Long Beach will go on the road 5 p.m.

Thursday to face Lindenwood.

SPORTS 11

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COLUMN

Long Beach State softball needs to find its chemistry

By Sierra Martinez Assistant Sports Editor MistJournalist

A

Freshman Wiktoria Rotkowska swings a forehand against UC Riverside Saturday.

AUSTIN BRUMBLAY | Daily 49er

WOMEN’S TENNIS

Long Beach defeats UC Riverside in season opener A strong team effort by the 49ers leads them to a 1-0 record to kick off the year.

By Manuel Valladares Contributing Writer

T

he Long Beach State women’s tennis team stringed in two strong performances early on, allowing that momentum to culminate in a 5-2 victory against UC Riverside in its first match of the season that took place Jan. 26.

Having won the doubles point, Long Beach (1-0 Big West) continued to succeed in its singles matches, winning four of its six matches against the Highlanders (0-1, 0-1 Big West).

“I feel like it was a good start,” head coach Jenny Hilt-Costello said. “There were a lot of nerves that we are working through.”

Three of the 49ers’ singles matches fin-

ished handily, clinching the win for the women’s tennis team in two sets each: freshman Zara Lennon 6-0, 6-2; sophomore Sadaf Sadeghvaziri 6-2, 6-2; and sophomore Carlota Casasampere 6-1, 6-3.

Junior Natalia Munoz struggled against Riverside’s Mahli Silpachai in two sets 3-6, 2-6, earning the first singles loss of the game.

Freshman Emma Bardet also suffered a loss to the Highlanders as she lost in a competitive match against Tia Elpusan.

With the first two sets having polar opposite outcomes, the third was a tough set that ended in a 6-8 tiebreaker.

The final singles win for Long Beach came from freshman Wiktoria Rutkowska, who competed against Riverside’s Lindsey Gelinas.

Rutkowska and Gelinas had two, hardfought sets 6-3, 6-7 with the latter being settled by a 7-9 tiebreaker.

With the match winding down to its

third set, Rutkowska was able to pull away with a 7-5 victory.

“She’s playing the top player from each school that we’re seeing and she had a tough one today, but we saw a lot of grit out of her,” Hilt-Costello said.

This final match demanded plenty of attention, with spectators ranging from team members to staunch supporters, giving rounds of applause and supportive messages to their players.

Rutkowska clinched the win for a number of reasons, one of the most integral being assistant coach Ashleigh Antal.

Antal spoke with players each opportunity she had, calming them down and giving necessary insight.

“She helped me with my serve … trying to prepare and reset me, and she really helped me with that,” Rutkowska said.

Long Beach looks to bolster its record on the road 2 p.m. Friday against San Diego State.

fter its NCAA tournament run in 2018, the Long Beach State softball team has a couple things missing entering this season: 10 seniors and a star pitcher.

With an overall record of 43-14, the 49ers found themselves in the first round of the NCAA tournament with the help of sophomore starting pitcher Cielo Meza, who earned 219 strikeouts, maintained a 1.46 ERA and was selected for the All-Big West and NFCA All-Region teams in the 2018 season. This year, Long Beach will have to find another way to win.

A big piece of the team’s success is gone now, but head coach Kim Sowder is confident with her pitching staff. She plans on heavily utilizing junior pitcher Devyn Magnett, who had 10 wins last season with a 3.08 ERA. In addition to Magnett, juniors Kellie White and Ashley Coleman who transferred from Utah State and Cal Baptist respectively, will play big roles from the start of the season.

A challenge heading into the year for Sowder was rebuilding almost half of the roster, a tedious task for a coach who is coming off a postseason run.

While the team didn’t necessarily get younger, it lacks the chemistry and experience that made last year’s team special.

In order for the 49ers to get back into the tournament, they will need things to click together as fast as possible.

While it’s common for college teams to face overhaul from year to year, losing 10 seniors messes up any identity that Long Beach had formed.

There is still a lot of talent with players like junior infielder Taylor Rowland returning, who was named second team All-America, making her the fifth in Long Beach State history to earn the honor.

With a strong pitching rotation, award-winning returners and well-experienced recruits, the team has the potential to build on top of its short NCAA tournament run last season.

Everyone loves a comeback story, but in order to complete it, the 49ers will need to quickly recreate the intensity of last year’s team.

Talent can only get a team so far, but chemistry is the factor that will push it even further.

12 SPORTS

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MEN’S BASKETBALL

‘Good luck in Europe’ Postgame scuffle occurs after third loss in a row.

By Alex Manfredi

Deputy Sports Editor alexmanfr3di

The postgame handshake ritual was going just fine until the Long Beach and UC Santa Barbara coaches exchanged less than friendly words, which led to chaos on the court.

After dropping its third game in a row, 82-71, the 49ers (8-13, 2-3 Big West) got into an altercation with the Gauchos at the end of the game.

Long Beach associate head coach Myke Scholl and UCSB director of basketball operations David Miller exchanged heated words, leading to players from both teams having to be held back from fighting.

The beef had been brewing since the beginning of the game, when Miller disagreed with a foul call senior Deishaun Booker received on a play. Booker responded with a “fuck you” as he walked past the UCSB bench at a media timeout in the second half.

As the game went on Miller made pucker faces at Booker, and told him to “have fun in Europe,” a diss that implies Booker isn’t good enough to make the NBA. During the postgame handshake, Scholl confronted Miller, demanding him to never talk to any of his players again. Instantly, players from both sides stormed the court to verbally confront each other, which led to shoving on the court. UCSB guard Armond Davis and Long Beach sophomore guard Drew Cobb were the most involved in the exchange between the players.

“I’ve got to control my side and we’re not gonna do that on our end,” head coach Dan Monson said. “I’m disappointed in the way the handshake was because we obviously didn’t walk away from it. But we’re not

gonna back down from people either, it’s an emotional game. Do I think it’s unprofessional for an adult to talk to a player?

Yeah, I think an adult needs to be the adult in those situations.”

Booker led Long Beach with 25 points, nine rebounds and seven assists. Sophomore guard Edon Maxhuni added 13 points and senior forward KJ Byers had 12 points and eight rebounds.

In the first half, Long Beach got off to one of its slowest starts of the season. The 49ers played with little intensity and took a while to play with fire on the defensive end.

Throughout the first 12 minutes, Booker and redshirt senior guard Bryan Alberts were held scoreless. After being out for multiple games, redshirt junior guard Ron Freeman saw action in the first half to keep up with UCSB’s length and athleticism on the wing. At halftime, the 49ers trailed the Gauchos 38-31. Long Beach couldn’t contain Davis, who was scoring from all over the floor. Davis led the Gauchos with 17 points and nine rebounds at the break.

After a less than stellar first half, Long Beach came out of the halftime break with a vengeance. The 49ers opened up on a 11-0 run, sparked by consecutive steals on the defensive end and took a 42-38 lead. After the 49ers’ run, the Gauchos went on multiple runs to open their lead back up. UCSB took a a 71-61 lead with three minutes left in the game and never looked back.As a team, Long Beach shot 54 percent from the free-throw line, its worst since Nov. 16 at Mississippi State.

“It’s a hard time for our guys, they played with emotion, they played with passion but they didn’t play good enough,” Monson said.

Next up, Long Beach travels to the Big Island for a 9 p.m. Thursday game against Hawai’i.

AUSTIN BRUMBLAY | Daily 49er Senior guard Desihuan Booker looks for the open man Saturday against UC Santa Barbara. The 49ers fell 82-71 to the Gauchos, dropping to 2-3 in Big West play.

BIG WEST STANDINGS

UC Irvine

UC Santa Barbara Fullerton

W

L

OVERALL

5

17-5

4

1 1

4

2

8-12

15-4

Hawaii CSUN

Long Beach

W

L

OVERALL

3 3

2 2

12-7 9-12

2

3

8-13

UC Riverside

UC Davis Cal Poly

W

L

OVERALL

2

4

1

4

8-14 5-14

0

5

4-14