Dec. 2, 2000
* Coach Montgomery Postgame Video Interview
LONG BEACH, Calif. (AP) - Twin brothers Jarron and Jason Collins celebratedtheir 22nd birthday with a win.
Jarron scored 20 points and Jason added 13 as No. 4 Stanford beat Long BeachState 86-63 on Saturday night.
"As long as we win, its good," Jarron Collins said. "I'm 22, and I'm alittle older now. It feels good."
Ryan Mendez scored 22 points on 9-of-12 shooting as the Cardinal (6-0) tooka 42-32 halftime lead.
"I didn't think I was getting open that much," he said. "A lot of myshots came in the context of the offense. I was just getting them in the flowof the game."
Stanford shot 59 percent overall and committed only seven turnovers. TheCardinal only hit 6 of 15 free throws.
Ramel Lloyd led Long Beach State (3-3) with 19 points. James Williams scored13 points and Lemi Williams had 12 points for the '49ers.
"I was very excited tonight," Lloyd said. "It doesn't happen very oftenthat we get to play a big team like this. We are very athletic, we just lacksize."
Long Beach State pulled within 45-40 with 17:07 remaining after they openedthe second half with a 7-3 sparked by Williams' two jump hooks.
"We played well for 35 minutes. Stanford played well for 40 minutes. Theydidn't get to be in the top five for nothing," said Long Beach State coachWayne Morgan.
The Cardinal countered with an 11-2 run capped by a 3-pointer by Mendez with13:53 remaining. Stanford led by 10 or more points for the rest of the game.
"We got back on our heels a bit in the second half, but we worked our wayout of it," Stanford coach Mike Montgomery said.
The Cardinal outrebounded the '49ers 36-28.
"The game was more physical than we had anticipated," Montgomery said."It was like a throwback to prior seasons. We probably needed a game likethis. We needed to be able to handle the contact."