CSULB Men's Basketball Undefeated in Big West Conference

RIVERSIDE –Casper Ware showed why he was the Big West player of the week, scoring 16 of his 18 points in the second half and overtime of Long Beach State’s 77-70 victory Thursday evening.

Long Beach (15-6, 8-0 BWC) struggled early and through most of the game as the players couldn’t get any consistent offense. It took a missed free throw by UC Riverside,  David Chaviarra’s only miss of the night (he was 4-5 from the stripe), to send the game into overtime, giving Long Beach second life. And they capitalized on it.

Down 63-62, Chaviarra would drive down the lane to put up the potential game winning shot, but was fouled and sent to the line where he would make one of the two shots.

Ware then hit a 3-pointer a little bit over a minute into the overtime period, but then Riverside’s Phil Martin would respond with one of his own in the subsequent possession.  James Ennis would respond with a a 3–pointer of his own. Then Ware  would seal the victory with another basket--and then make all six of his free throws down the stretch, as the Highlanders were forced to foul.

“My team is counting on me,” Ware said about hitting the big shot, “and I didn’t want to let them down.”

All five 49ers starters scored in double figures with Ware leading the way with 18 points,three assists and four steals. Ennis tallied 16 points (including 4 of 5 from behind the arc), three rebounds, two assists, a block and four steals, while Larry Anderson and Eugene Phelps added 15 and 12 points, respectively.  TJ Robinson finished with a double-double with 10 points and a game high 15 rebounds.

Long Beach struggled, hitting only four of its first 11 shots, and in the process committed four turnovers, allowing Riverside to take an early 22-16 lead. Long Beach would then score its next 11 points, to take the lead 27-26, before Riverside would respond one more time to take a 28-27 lead going into halftime.

“Give Riverside credit,” 49er head coach Dan Monson said. “They did a great job not allowing us to get into any kind of rhythm.  They’re a great team, it’s not what is wrong with us.”

Martin finished with a game high 31 points for the highlanders.  Kareem Nitoto added eight points and three assists, while BJ Shearry and Robert Smith each scored 7 points.  Shearry recorded a game high seven blocks and eight rebounds to lead Riverside defensively.

Long Beach carried the momentum from Thursday’s victory into Saturday’s matchup against conference rival Cal State Fullerton. The Beach was able to make a final flurry in the second half to pull away with a 75-61 win to remain undefeated in conference (16-6, 9-0 BWC).

“Fullerton is the best team offensively that we will face this year,” Monson said. “We cannot play like we did Thursday and allow them to get us out of our rhythm.”

Long Beach led throughout the game, but allowed Fullerton to get back into the game  in the second half when the Titans switched to a zone defense which the 49ers were unable to figure out.  Fullerton took advantage of the confusion to go on a 15-7 run to get as close as 51-53 with a little bit over eight minutes to go.

Ennis scored 19, nine of which was in Long Beach’s 19-8 run in the final seven minutes to close out the game. Anderson added 16 points, four assists and five steals, while Ware finished with 11 points, and five assists.

BOX SCORES

Long Beach State (77) – Casper Ware (18), James Ennis (16), Larry Anderson (15), Eugene Phelps (12), TJ Robinson (10), Edis Dervisevic (4), Nick Shepherd (2)

UC Riverside (70) – Phil Martin (31), David Chavarria (10), Kareem Nitoto (8), BJ Shearry (7), Robert Smith (7),  John Gilliam (3), Kevin Bradshaw (2), Elliot Berry (2)