FULLERTON — The Long Beach State men’s basketball team finally meshed on Thursday night.

After losing eight consecutive games, Long Beach won its Big West Conference opener in impressive fashion, pulling away from host Cal State Fullerton for a 73-56 win at Titan Gym.

“It’s just been a process for us altogether to, basically, compartmentalize the length of the game and break it down and try to figure out how we can win different segments throughout the course of the game,” first-year Long Beach head coach Chris Acker said. “Our guys are starting to understand how to win basketball games, and they’re preparing in practice the right way, and I think as long as we continue to work, we’ll continue to get better throughout the season.”

Four players scored in double figures for LBSU (2-8 overall, 1-0 Big West), led by Devin Askew with 16 points.

Askew, who added six rebounds, three assists and three steals, began his college career as the starting point guard at Kentucky, transferred to Texas for a season and then spent the past two years battling injuries at Cal.

“I’m proud of Devin. He’s been steady the whole year for us,” Acker said. “This is an opportunity for him to learn how to lead a team, and he’s been healthy all year and he’s playing within himself. When you’re in your first year as a head coach, you need a point guard that can steady the ship and keep everything calm and he does a great job of doing that.”

Fullerton (2-7, 0-1) struggled in nearly every facet of the game.

The Titans missed their first 10 tries from 3-point range before finishing 1 for 13, and they also missed half of their 18 free-throw attempts.

“In one of the biggest rivalry games of the year, we didn’t bring it tonight and there’s no excuse for what we did,” Fullerton coach Dedrique Taylor said. “We were very inefficient at the 3-point line, we were inefficient at the free-throw line and when you play games like that, it’s hard to even win.”

Long Beach held a 33-24 lead at halftime after leading by as many as 13 points.

Askew got Long Beach off to a good start by hitting the first shot attempt of the game. His steal and layup gave Long Beach a 4-2 lead and the visitors stayed ahead the rest of the half.

LBSU would have led by more, but went just 5 for 14 at the foul line in the first half.

Fullerton, meanwhile, had trouble making up the deficit, missing all seven of its 3-point attempts in the opening 20 minutes.

Derrick Michael Xzavierro came off the bench for Long Beach and quickly contributed four points and four rebounds.

Kobe Young, who came in averaging 3.3 points for the Titans, scored nine in the first half, including a dunk off of a feed from Donovan Oday that cut the deficit to 19-17 with 6:23 left in the half.

Long Beach answered with an 8-0 run, however, taking its first double-digit lead on a free throw by Xzavierro.

“We came out with a lot of energy and executed well today,” Askew said.

Kam Martin sank a 3-pointer in front of the Fullerton bench for Long Beach to extend the lead to 11 and the freshman from Maryland hit another after Askew passed out of a backcourt double-team to give Long Beach its biggest lead of the first half at 33-20 with 58 seconds left.

Martin earned the starting nod for Long Beach after scoring 17 points in an 82-66 loss to San Jose State on Saturday in Henderson, Nevada.

“(Martin) he had a great game,” Acker said. “I felt good starting him tonight and keeping him in rhythm and for a freshman, he stepped up and made big shots.”

Acker was also complimentary of Xzavierro, a 6-foot-10 sophomore who finished with nine points and nine rebounds off the bench.

“X was huge on the offensive glass for us and he finished some plays around the basket,” Acker said.

Long Beach scored the first four points of the second half to extend the lead back to 13 and match its biggest lead of the first half. The lead eventually swelled to 21 on two free throws by Askew midway through the second half.

“This was a team victory,” Acker said. “I mean, we’ve got a great group of guys that are continuing to understand how hard it is to win, but also staying committed regardless of the outcome.”

Martin finished with 11 points, and Austin Johnson and TJ Wainwright each added 10 for LBSU.

Kendrick De Luna scored 10 points to lead Fullerton, while Kobe Young had nine points and seven rebounds and John Mikey Square added nine points.

ANAHEIM — Even with nearly every starter out of the lineup and three additional players sidelined with injuries during the game, the Servite soccer team came away with a 4-2 victory over Long Beach Wilson in a nonleague match Thursday at Servite High School.

Esteban Abarca scored two goals and Aidan Partida had a goal and an assist for the Friars, who improved to 2-0-0 under first-year coach Alex Ramirez

The majority of Servite’s starters were competing in an elite club tournament on the East Coast, Ramirez said, and the Friars won’t be playing with a full roster for about another two weeks.

“The first two days, to be down 15 players on a roster is brutal,” said Ramirez, who coached at Savanna High for 17 years before taking the coaching job at Servite. “We took a lot of our JV kids who are very talented. A lot of our JV players here at Servite would play varsity in other parts of California. And to give them opportunities to come up and show what they can do is great.”

Ramirez had been in the process of converting to Catholicism when he received a layoff notice from the Anaheim Union High School District.

“I was looking for a job and this one opened up,” said Ramirez, who took over for former Servite coach Eddie Soto, who resigned in April. “So, then I was very interested, and obviously it’s arguably the best soccer program in California over the last 20 years. The kids are amazingly respectful. They have a tradition here where whenever an adult walks in the room, they all stand at attention just to show respect.”

The Friars took a 1-0 lead four minutes into the match, when Abarca, who also scored two goals in Servite’s 4-0 victory over Chino on Tuesday, took a pass from Liam Harte, dribbled along the left sideline and then cut to the goal and scored.

In the 13th minute, Servite made the score 2-0 when Nico Pacelli handled a rebound ball and kicked it into the right side of the goal.

The Friars scored their third goal when Abarca headed Partida’s corner kick out of the air and into the net.

Andres Martinez got the Bruins on the board with a goal in the 33rd minute off of a pass from Pablo Pineda.

Servite put the game out of reach on Partida’s goal in the 59th minute off a pass from Dylan Godinez.

Yair Gonzalez scored the Bruins’ second goal in the 74th minute.

“We’re trying to build a brotherhood here where every single person matters,” Ramirez said. “So, the fact that they were able to grind and do the things we’re trying to teach them anyway, shows the gift that God has given them.”

HUNTINGTON BEACH – With many high school boys soccer teams’ top players tied up with club commitments early in the season, opportunities arise for others to earn their stripes.

The Millikan boys soccer team is down at least six starters due to the club MLS Cup and injuries, including the Rams’ No. 10 Juan Vasquez, but so far, that’s yet to slow the Rams down.

Millikan got a set-piece goal from senior defender Cody Ekblad in the first half and shut down Godinez in the second half to claim the victory, 1-0, in All-Turf Tournament pool play on Thursday at Huntington Beach High School.

“I actually feel really good about it,” Millikan coach Jeff Schofield said of his team’s start. “Kind of a little bare bones, missing a lot of guys, but it’s been great because we’re having other people step up and get the opportunity to go in, play well, be successful and contribute.”

Millikan (2-0-0) plays Marquez on Friday and Highland of Arizona on Saturday morning. Godinez (1-1-1) plays Highland on Friday and Marquez on Saturday morning.

Semifinals are Saturday evening, and the All-Turf Tournament championship game is Monday.

Ekblad scored the difference maker in the 22nd minute on Thursday.

Millikan had earned five corner kicks off the intensity of its high press in the first 20 minutes, and each time, the Rams lofted a ball to the far side of the box looking for the header connection.

In the 22nd minute, senior midfielder Sergio Lica sent the ball across the box that found Ekblad on the right side.

“Great cross. Gave the defender a little nudge and tapped it in,” Ekblad said. “Worked out pretty well. Sadly, it was our only goal. We made a lot of chances, but I think we played all right.”

Ekblad and the Millikan back line were able to consistently turn away Godinez’s comeback attempts throughout the rest of the game to earn the feather in their cap.

“Communication,” Ekblad said of how Millikan’s defenders locked in. “We have good players, but we’re horrible without communication. As long as we’re talking throughout the game, we’re unstoppable.”

Godinez qualified for the first Open Division bracket of the CIF-SS playoffs last season. Millikan, back-to-back Moore League champions, advanced to the Division 1 quarterfinals last season.

The Rams have their obvious goal of earning a three-peat league championship, but for both Millikan and Godinez, their ultimate goals may shift by the end of the season, as CIF-SS rolls out a new computer-based rankings system for their playoff divisions.

“With the new playoff system, we have no idea what that’s going to look like,” Schofield said. “We did well to accomplish (Division 1 quarterfinals last season), so we’ll see where we end up at the end of the season and which division. I think that’ll dictate our goals as we get to that point.

“Obviously you want to go far, but it’s a lot easier if you’re in Division 4 than if you’re Division 1.”

By LARRY LAGE AP Sports Writer

DETROIT — Jared Goff threw three touchdown passes, Jake Bates made a 35-yard field goal as time expired and the Detroit Lions clinched a playoff spot with a 34-31 victory over the Green Bay Packers on Thursday night.

The NFC-best Lions (12-1) broke a franchise record with their 11th straight win – including two over the Packers (9-4) – to stay ahead of Minnesota (10-2) in the highly competitive NFC North.

Detroit coach Dan Campbell went for it on fourth down five times, including with 1 yard to go at the Green Bay 21-yard line with 43 seconds left, and his gambles backfired only once.

David Montgomery ran for 7 yards, barely getting a handoff from Goff after the quarterback tripped and was falling toward the turf. That ensured the Lions could attempt a field goal without giving the Packers the ball back, and Bates hit his third-game winning kick this season.

Goff threw two touchdown passes on fourth-and-goal, one to Tim Patrick, who had two TD catches. He also threw an interception in the third quarter to set up one of Josh Jacobs’ career-high matching three touchdown runs.

Goff found Jahymr Gibbs open in the end zone for a 2-yard pass on a fourth down with 11 seconds left in the first half to put Detroit ahead 17-7.

Goff later connected with Patrick on a go-ahead, 1-yard touchdown pass midway through the fourth quarter.

Green Bay took advantage of the only time Campbell’s aggressiveness didn’t pan out, denying Gibbs on a fourth-down run late in the third quarter from the Detroit 31.

Jacobs scored for a third time on a 3-yard run on the ensuing drive.

Brandon McManus made a 32-yard field goal with 3:38 left to pull the Packers into a 31-all tie in a game that had four lead changes earlier in the second half.

The Lions’ final drive began with Goff’s 19-yard pass to Jameson Williams. He also connected with Amon-Ra St. Brown for 16 yards on the decisive possession. Goff finished 32 of 41 for 283 yards, and six Lions players had at least five receptions.

Jordan Love was 12 of 20 for 206 yards with a touchdown pass to Tucker Kraft early in the third quarter.

INJURIES

Packers: Safety Evan Williams (concussion), safety Javon Bullard (ankle) and defensive end Lukas Van Ness (thumb) were hurt during the game.

Lions: Defensive lineman Alim McNeill left with a head injury after he was evaluated for a concussion and returned to play briefly.

More to come on this story.

UP NEXT

The Packers play at NFC West-leading Seattle in a Sunday night game on Dec. 15.

The Lions host AFC East-leading Buffalo on Dec. 15.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office has revealed that Baldwin Park’s former city attorney and Commerce’s former city manager secretly pleaded guilty a year ago to charges related to their participation in a cannabis bribery scheme that has resulted in the arrests of nearly a half-dozen Southern California public officials so far.

The two men’s involvement was detailed in prior plea agreements, but the charges against them were not unsealed until Thursday, Dec. 5. Both Baldwin Park’s Robert Tafoya and Commerce’s Edgar Cisneros quietly resigned from their positions in 2022 and 2023, respectively, and have agreed to cooperate in the ongoing investigation.

As part of the deal, Tafoya also pleaded guilty to evading payment of approximately $650,000 in federal taxes.

The plea deals with Tafoya and Cisneros follow similar arrangements made with former Baldwin Park city councilman Ricardo Pacheco and former San Bernardino County Planning Commissioner Gabriel Chavez. The FBI originally nabbed Pacheco during an unrelated sting operation during which Pacheco accepted a bribe from a police officer — working undercover for the FBI — in exchange for voting in support of a union contract.

Since then, the FBI has systematically taken down others who assisted Pacheco’s efforts to collect bribes during Baldwin Park’s rollout of cannabis in 2017. The former councilman was forced to turnover $302,900 in bribes, including $62,900 found buried in his backyard.

Tafoya and Cisneros facilitated the bribes to Pacheco to their own benefit, according to their plea agreements. Tafoya, Baldwin Park’s city attorney for nearly a decade, allegedly worked with Compton Councilman Isaac Galvan — who also has been arrested but has pleaded not guilty — to funnel bribes to Pacheco to secure a cannabis permit for one of Galvan’s consulting clients. Tafoya had family friends cash checks written by one of the clients, W&F International, to conceal the payments to Pacheco, according to federal investigators.

W&F International landed one of the development agreements in Baldwin Park. It was eventually shut down when the neighboring El Monte Police Department raided the facility for operating without approval.

Chavez, using a consulting agreement drafted by Tafoya, served as a middleman for Pacheco, accepting “consulting” gigs from cannabis clients and then cutting Pacheco in to secure his vote on the City Council. Chavez and Pacheco amassed at least $170,000 through the sham agreements from 2017 to 2019, according to their plea agreements.

Cisneros, working as a consultant for a different cannabis company, allegedly received $175,000 for his role and directed $45,000 to Chavez over the two-year period. The former Commerce city manager, who resigned in November 2023 just days after he pleaded guilty, told investigators that while he never knew “with absolute certainty” that Chavez was splitting money with Pacheco, he suspected it and “deliberately avoided learning the truth.”

He admitted that he knew if he did not pay Chavez, his client would not receive a permit in Baldwin Park, according to the plea agreement.

Cisneros, while serving as city manager in Huntington Park, awarded a $14,500, no-bid contract to Chavez’s company and made a $5,000 donation to a church associated with a school attended by Pacheco’s child, according to court filings.

“Discretion is a must for us and most appreciated,” read one email between Chavez and Cisneros.

Cisneros used his position in Commerce to solicit at least $25,000 in bribes for himself. An unidentified consultant working with clients looking to operate in Commerce secured a consulting gig for Cisneros with a cannabis company seeking permits in Montebello. Though Cisneros did not perform any work, the company paid him $25,000 and he told investigators he understood the money was meant to “influence” his authority over permitting in Commerce.

Cisneros received roughly $400,000 in extra pay as part of his severance agreement with Commerce.

Baldwin Park Mayor Emmanuel Estrada, who joined the council after Pacheco’s indictment, described the revelation of the charges against Tafoya as “disappointing” and said the city has spent years trying to unravel the backroom dealings now attributed to Pacheco and Tafoya. The corruption scandal has put Baldwin Park in a negative light, he said.

The former city attorney resigned in 2022 following Southern California News Group reporting that detailed the allegations against him. His attorney at the time denied that Tafoya played any role in the scheme.

Estrada said Baldwin Park, which hired a lawyer specifically to handle cannabis matters, wants to create uniformity among the operators and plans to weed out any who participated in the scheme. The drawn-out nature of the FBI’s investigation, going on more than five years now, has made it difficult to get clear information, he said.

“We’re definitely looking at everything, we’re going through all of the terms,” he said. “I’m confident that our legal counsel is doing their due diligence in reviewing any and all of our cannabis documents to make sure we’re on the proper pathway forward.”