10:00am | Two guys who are unnamed in the LBSU basketball box score got a salute in the post game celebration after the 49ers finished a 70-69 come from behind victory over perennial nemesis Bob Thomason and his Pacific Tigers.
In a string of games that the Beach coach Dan Monson calls “Big West Wars” it was a real soldier, Army Captain Brian Jenson, who fired up the 49er troops in a passionate pre-game talk. “He told them that he has to rely on the guys in his bunker and these college basketball players, need to rely on their team mates” the fourth year Long Beach skipper noted.
In the beginning of the contest LBSU, now a glittering 6-0 in conference and 11-8 overall, took a lot of long range fire from Pacific, especially All Conference gunner Sam Willard who was 7-9 in the first half and finished his 39 minutes of court duty with 27 points and 13 rebounds. The Niners, who pre-game honored perhaps the best NBA three point shooter of all time, Craig Hodges, channeled a bit of the former Chicago Bull at the end of the game with three clutch long range shots. (Channeled sure, the game is played in a Pyramid!) The first was a 3-pointer by Greg Plater at the 1:12 mark followed by two toes-on-line jumpers by Casper Ware to get his team the lead and then the win.
Pacific shot almost 60 per cent in the first half but the Niners, before a racus crowd of 4,732, admitted that in the early going UOP had hit the home team “in the mouth” and led by 12 halfway through the first period . The required change according to Ware was “to just stay in t he game and not panic.” In the final seconds the experience and coaching of the Beach showed. Up seven with 2:49 left, TJ Robinson cut into the Tiger margin and then the shooting magic of juniors Plater and Ware provided the knock out punch.
“When we heard Captain Jenson talk about how soldiers have to be prepared to give their life for their team, we knew that we were able to make a bigger effort ourselves,” Ware explained post game. He finished with a team best 18 points and five assists joined on the stat sheet with 16 points and six rebounds by Plater, and a double by Larry Anderson, 10 rebounds, 13 points, plus five assists and a block.
For the 6-9 UOP senior Willard it was his 13th double-double of the year, (a career-high 27 points and 13 rebounds.) Demetrece Young scored 11 points but fired the last blank at the end of the game when LB’s covered up Willard. Ware described the end game, “I was holding my breath but I had to contest his shot without fouling. “ The play before the Niners disdained a time out figuring the Tigers, with a foul to give, would like to slow things down and preferred to let Ware work his magic. Monson summed the strategy up, “I trust him…he’s a pretty good guy to trust.”
The Beach struggled with their shooting in the first half (39.3 percent) in the second half LBSU made 13-of-23 shots (56.5 percent.). With the win Monson’s team remains perfect in Big West conference play and the six straight wins mark the longest winning streak in his time at the Beach.
The 49ers get back into action Wednesday, January 19 when they hit the road to face Cal State Fullerton in the next Big West test. The Titans, who got waxed by Northridge 89-65 Saturday night, are in the bottom half of the Big West but traditionally play the Beach tough. “Fullerton always gives us problems in conference but it is nice to go in there 6-0” Monson said, finally breaking into a smile.
Niner Notebook
In the house were several members of the 49er men’s volleyball team who have beaten the numbers #3 and #2 ranked teams (Pepperdine and UC Irvine) but last night they got stuffed at #1 USC. Andy Read’s Cinderella spikers begin a four match home stand on Tuesday playing UCSB.
LBSU women’s basketball is still suffering after a 76-65 defeat to the Pacific women in Stockton. The 49ers (3-16, 1-5 BWC) shot 38.6 percent from the field and were outrebounded, 42-28. Freshman Sendy Valles paced The Beach with a game-high 16 points, all of which came in the second half. The Niners were close again at the half, 38-32, but only Valles got untracked after intermission. The 49ers forced 27 Pacific turnovers and committed just 16. The LBSU ladies are back in the Pyramid Wednesday night hosting Cal State Fullerton.
49er super fan Paul Goydos, (the latest Mr. 59 of the PGA tour) had three birdies on the front nine at the Sony Open in round one but his 69 followed by a 72 wasn’t enough to make the cut. Long Beach native John Merrick, who played at UCLA, is still alive for the weekend. Goydos Twittered on the red eye coming home, “Putted bad, drove it worse. Not a good start to 2011!! Have a lot of work to do”.