Long Beach Celebrates, 83-70 : College basketball: Playing in front of friends and family, Mike Atkinson leads 49ers to victory over San Jose State.

SAN JOSE —  Mike Atkinson returned home Saturday night and left a big impression--but some of the hometown folks weren’t too pleased.

With one giant step, a quick leap and a powerful finish, Atkinson’s fierce slam dunk turned his quiet homecoming gathering into a rousing, foot-stomping party in Long Beach State’s 83-70 Big West Conference victory over San Jose State in front of 1,768 at the Event Center.

Atkinson, a fifth-year senior forward who grew up in San Jose, gave Long Beach its biggest lead, 69-49, on his spectacular dunk with 6 minutes 57 seconds remaining. Running on the fast break, Atkinson caught a pass at the free-throw line from point guard Tye Mays, took one step inside the line and jammed the ball over Spartan guard Brad Quinet.

The play sealed Long Beach’s sixth consecutive victory, brought the Long Beach bench to its feet and sparked mixed emotions in the crowd.

He was assessed a technical foul for excessive celebrating. But so what? The moment was special.

“I was surprised I made it,” said Atkinson, who has played only three times in the last six games because of a right foot injury.

“I thought I was going to throw it off the back of the rim. This was really nice.”

Thirty of Atkinson’s family and friends watched him score nine points for the second-place 49ers (13-6, 9-3 in the Big West). The winning streak is their longest since they won nine in a row in 1989-90.

Atkinson’s teammates also were impressed with his flair for the dramatic.

“Oh, man that was sweet ,” center Joe McNaull said. “It was a lot of fun.

“He’s been struggling with his ankle for a while, but I think he took off with his good ankle. It was sweet.”

Said forward Terrance O’Kelley: “That was nice--real nice.”

The 49ers used a 10-0 run to take a 57-43 lead with 14:34 to play on a turnaround jumper by Terrance O’Kelley. Long Beach’s front line dominated the Spartans (1-19, 0-12), who have lost 12 in a row.

O’Kelley and McNaull continually overpowered their counterparts for good position. O’Kelley finished with 15 points and McNaull had 14 points and seven rebounds.

“O’Kelley and McNaull just took us apart inside,” Spartan Coach Stan Morrison said. “We don’t have anyone to counter that, try all we may. It was just too many studs for us inside.”

The 49ers shot 63.5% from the field--their highest percentage this season.

“That was, overall, probably the best motion (offense) we’ve run in two years,” Coach Seth Greenberg said.

The 49er reserves also played well, as guard Eric Brown scored 15 points on six-of-six shooting, and swingman Jamie Davis broke out of a shooting slump with 12 points on five-of-eight shooting.

“They have perhaps the best depth in the league,” Morrison said. “There was no dropoff when Brown and Davis came in the game.”

Long Beach started slowly. The 49ers missed their first six field-goal attempts, helping San Jose take a 6-0 lead.

But then Long Beach got the ball to McNaull. He scored eight first-half points and the 49ers led, 41-37, at halftime. Two free throws by Atkinson gave Long Beach its biggest lead of the half, 33-26, with about 5:00 to go.

Brown and Davis had problems guarding Spartan guard Tito Addison. They were too slow in fighting through screens, and Addison scored 10 of his 15 points in the opening half.

Despite trailing at halftime, San Jose played well in a first half for the third consecutive game.