Click here to read my article about the 49ers’ 67-58 victory over Pepperdine.
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FINAL: Beach 67 – Pepperdine 58: It was UGLY but they pulled it out.
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0:46.8 2nd Half, Beach 65 – Waves 58: Plater hits his third 3-pointer of the half, but the 49ers allow Bell to come right down and hit a leaner plus the foul for a three-point play – thus continuing an entire game of utterly dumbfounding defensive decisions. Phelps then misses a gimme on a nice pass from Ware and the Waves score again. Pepperdine fouls Anderson out of desperation.
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4:35 2nd Half, Beach 60 – Waves 47: Plater hits a triple off a set play that worked to perfection, but Bell banks in a floater on the other end. Monson seems disgusted with Steph Gilling, and refused to look at him after a foul in the backcourt. Phelps is on his way to the free-throw line (a scary thought, I know) and the 49ers really need to tighten up the defense and hit their freebies down the stretch to salvage anything from this hiccup of a game.
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7:58 2nd Half, Beach 54 – Waves 42: Pepperdine is beginning to fall apart, dribbling the ball off their feet and failing to make even the easiest of layups around the basket – which is a major drawback for the Waves because Long Beach is still deathly allergic to playing interior defense. And rebounding. They’re also deathly allergic to rebounding. Head coach Dan Monson is having fits about it on the sideline. Larry Anderson is really stepping up when his team needs him the most.
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10:20 2nd Half, Beach 53 – Waves 41: Ok, things are looking up for the 49ers as they’re beating the Waves down the court and finally converting around the hoop. But there are still grave concerns about a lack of help defense on penetration, and a complete lack of rebound positioning. Honestly, if Pepperdine could make a layup, Long Beach would be losing by ten.
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12:24 2nd Half, Beach 49 – Waves 39: T.J. Robinson rattles off five straight points, and Larry Anderson takes it strong to the hole for a layup and the foul. Long Beach is possibly starting to realize that they’re bigger and stronger than Pepperdine. Kyle Richardson draws a charge on the other end. Jesse Woodard sighting!
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15:27 2nd Half, Beach 39 – Waves 34: Anderson hits a wing three to make it look like the 49ers have control of this game, but it was only Long Beach’s second triple of the game and meanwhile they’re routinely missing layups. Still major trouble with closing out on shooters and boxing out. Back-to-back Anderson tomahawk jams (one right-handed, one left-handed) will hopefully get things going.
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17:24 2nd Half, Waves 34 – Beach 32: Robinson misses back-to-back layups, and although he was fouled on the second attempt and made one of two freebies, these are just not the kinds of mistakes that a team like Long Beach can make. In the season that the 49ers were supposed to emerge from the NCAA’s lower level to become a legitimate mid-major national contender, trading buckets with Pepperdine is simply unacceptable.
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Halftime, Waves 31 – Beach 29: The 49ers are really struggling on offense. In their final two possessions of the half, Pepperdine forced the shot clock down to :01 before Ware forced up an 18-foot miss, and then Long Beach suffered a shot clock violation on the next possession. On the other side, Bell worked his way into the paint at will, and Taylor Darby cleaned up his miss by getting fouled and hitting a free throw. The good news? Pepperdine is playing well and Long Beach is playing badly, and this is a two-point game.
The bad news? Pepperdine is dominating the boards by a count of 24-13. The Waves have committed ten turnovers and Bell is shooting just 2-7 from the field, and Long Beach hasn’t capitalized on either of those opportunities. They’re having major trouble converting in both transition and the halfcourt, and are in plain bad defensive and rebounding position. Long Beach starters are 5-17 from the floor (the team is 8-23).
Ugh.
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3:34 1st Half, Waves 27 – Beach 27: The 49ers go on a 7-0 run, but both teams are experiencing shooting woes. At this point in the game, a low-scoring affair like this is definitely working in the Waves’ favor. Anderson is doing what scorers do when they can’t score, he’s getting to the free-throw line. But troubles on defense are hurting Long Beach – it ain’t easy to switch from a fullcourt zone to a halfcourt man defense without some missed assignments.
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6:32 1st Half, Waves 25 – Beach 20: Bell wreaks havoc not by scoring, but by drawing defenders and creating for teammates. Gus Clardy scores and gets fouled by Kyle Richardson, but T.J. Robinson misses the block-out on the free throw and Bell hits a three. It’s definitely bad news if he gets into a groove, but even more disturbing is that the 49ers look like they have real trouble getting into position for rebounds, and it’s almost becoming EASY to score on them once you get into the paint.
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7:17 1st Half, Beach 20 – Waves 20: Pepperdine is back to the man-toman. Meanwhile, the 49er press continues to bear fruit by causing turnovers, although Long Beach is having uncharacteristic trouble converting on fast breaks. Larry Anderson and Steph Gilling are switching on Bell, who has had open looks but isn’t hitting right now.
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12:00 1st Half, Beach 13 – Waves 13: Pepperdine goes to a 2-3 zone, so Larry Anderson goes to the point. 49er offense is a little stagnant against the zone, and the Waves get two free throws after a steal leads to transition. Ware fires a no-look to Robinson, who is still left open by opposing defenses for some reason. Pepperdine carries the ball an awful lot which is hurting their isolation-style offense – although that’s not a bad strategy the way Long Beach’s perimeter defense is playing.
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16:00 1st Half, Beach 7 – Waves 4: Gilling hits a wing three and Phelps has four early points. The 49er fullcourt trap is already stalling the Pepperdine offense, although the Waves are getting into the lane with relative ease – though they haven’t converted those opportunities into points as easily. Deion Bell is the real deal, every move he makes looks graceful and effortless.
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6:55pm: Your starting lineups:
49ers
G – Casper Ware, Stephan Gilling
F – Larry Anderson, T.J. Robinson
C – Eugene Phelps
Waves
G – Deion Bell, Joshua Lowry
F – Mychel Thompson, Taylor Darby, Gus Clardy
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6:31pm: We’ve arrived. Good to see a nice smattering of Monson Maniacs in the crowd. Both teams are warming up at the moment. Mike makes a good point – it’ll be nice to see both Jesse Woodard and Lin Chang on the floor tonight. More importantly, it’s free burrito night! BRB…
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Road trip!
The LBPOSTSports.com crew is off to Malibu to bring you live scores and updates from tonight’s game between Long Beach State and Pepperdine. Check back early and often for our analysis.
Feel free to leave us questions or comments below and we’ll tell you what’s what from the game. Until then, click here to check out our preview of tonight’s game.
While we’re driving, think of ways for the 49ers to stop Pepperdine sophomore Keion Bell. One-on-one with Gilling? Three-two zone with L.A. at the top? Dress Mike Vantrimpont as a scarecrow? Discuss.