85-80 LMU, Final in Overtime
Long Beach drops a game they definitely could have won if not for a lethargic first half and a few costly mistakes near the end of regulation and overtime. T.J. Robinson with 22 points and 18 rebounds, Drew Viney 18 points and 11 rebounds for Loyola Marymount.

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85-80, 0:09.3
Down by three, Casper Ware just drove for an attempted layup but met too much traffic inside. Long Beach has to foul. Not looking good.

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80-78 LMU, 0:33.1
Anderson misses two free throws that would have tied the game. A series of mistakes make it LMU ball and the 49ers have to foul. Ball out of bounds under the Lions’ basket.

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76-76, 2:31
Overtime is underway, but keep in mind that Long Beach has an 11:55pm flight out of LAX to catch in order to get ready for Kentucky on Wednesday. That’s looking less and less likely as the game goes on. They’ve traded baskets thus far.

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72-72, End of regulation
Long Beach had trouble getting off a shot and a Ware three was too late. The plan was to get the ball to Robinson but he caught it about 27 feet away from the basket and was forced to hurriedly pass back to Ware. LMU definitely has the momentum. We’re going to overtime, peeps.

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72-72, 0:06.8
Loyola Marymount’s Larry Davis nails a clutch three over Robinson to tie us up! Long Beach calls a timeout.

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72-69 Long Beach, 0:23.0
Loyola Marymount cut the Long Beach lead to one, but Larry Anderson drove hard to the rack for a lay-in over three defenders. Timeout Lions.

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70-67 Long Beach, 1:07
Feed the big man! Long Beach goes to T.J. Robinson in the post and he answers with a quick spin and lay-in. That gives him 20 and 18 on the night. Timeout Loyola Marymount.

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68-67 Long Beach, 1:30
Long Beach just called a timeout. The air is so tense in here that every breath seems like an earthquake. Long Beach ball.

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T.J. Robinson has 18 points and 17 rebounds. I just thought you guys should know.

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68-66 Long Beach, 3:56
This pace is absolutely frenetic. Both teams are going for the jugular and neither can build a sizeable lead. Really tough, hardnosed basketball between two very athletic and talented teams. Ware’s quick hands got him a steal and he raced down for the layup and a foul. The Lions answered and now Larry Anderson is on the line thanks to a hustle play on a loose ball. INails ’em both.

BTW: Our photographer Andrew Veis got the most amazing shot of Plater’s dunk. Wait until you guys see this…

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63-62 Long Beach, 7:20
Greg Plater DUNK OF THE YEAR to give Long Beach the lead, and he was fouled! Literally jumped OVER an LMU player. Insane.

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62-61 LMU, 7:40
The action is blindingly fast, both teams are scrapping for every single possession and every inch of space. Eugene Phelps has to be closing in on a career high with 14 points but Viney is having himself a game with 16 of his won. This game is going to get very, very good down the stretch. Ware and Anderson are trying to will the 49ers to a win but Long Beach’s fate may lie with T.J. Robinson. He leads the Beach with 16 points and is clearly their go-to scoring option. Woodard in for Ware; the 49ers didn’t look very good the last time he ran the point in this game. Will fortunes change in the second half?

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55-52 Long Beach, 10:49
Long Beach started the second half shooting 52.9% while LMU was just 20% and 0-6 from three point land. Beware, though, the Lions hit a three and Viney slipped by for a layup to cut the 49er lead.

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51-46 Long Beach, 12:41
After matching up Plater on Viney, the 49ers throw another guard at the big man with Stephan Gilling. Strange strategy but it seems to be working as Viney has to work hard against quicker guards and LMU has gotten off to a slow start offensively. Tellingly, the 49ers made that big second half run with Larry Anderson on the bench. He’s back in now, so let’s see if he can be a spark as well as an effective cheerleader.

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45-43 Long Beach, 15:37
How many times have we seen Casper Ware take over a game this season? He hits another three-pointer to give Long beach their first lead since I don’t know when. We’ve got ourselves a game. On the defensive side, Long Beach went with such a small lineup that 6-foot-1 Greg Plater was manned up on 6-foot-5 Drew Viney. Luckily for the 49ers, LMU didn’t exploit the mismatch but we’ll see if adjustments are made following a time-out.

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43-42 LMU, 16:20
Here they come. A quick comeback sparked by – who else? – Casper Ware. The gutty little point guard gets fouled on a lay-in and then nails a three-pointer to chomp into the Lions’ lead. Lots of energy on the Long Beach side right now while LMU has put up a few airballs to start the half. Now would be a great time for Larry Anderson to get aggressive (although he just had a leaner rejected into the third row).

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41-35 LMU, 18:24
Ready to tip off the second half. The 49ers came out of the locker room pretty early to get their shots up; I imagine they received a “stern talking to” during the break. In response to beach fan in the Comments below, this feels a lot like the Pepperdine game from back in November. Long Beach took their time in waking up but had a great second half and pulled away. The effort is there, they’re just not converting on offense. At this point it’s too early to tell whether or not the second half will be more of the same. They certainly look more focused though. Anderson just dunked home a lob and here we go…

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41-33 LMU, HALF
Well, that was ugly. Long Beach showed their halfcourt trap again, but this time LMU abused it and Viney reaped the reward with a two-handed slam (the Lions went all dunk contest on the 49ers in the final 5 minutes or so). Anderson hit a leaning bank shot just before the buzzer to keep the score respectable but the 49ers have a lot of work to do if they want to have a chance in this one. T.J. Robinson is your leading scorer with 12 points and 7 boards, while Jarred DuBois has 10 points for LMU. Long Beach is shooting just 43.3% to the Lions’ 50%. LMU has 18 points in the paint while Long Beach has 10, and the Lions have scored 13 points off turnovers while the 49ers have just 7. I need a soda, brb…

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39-31 LMU, 0:45.0
Kyle Richardson sighting! The freshman sees action for the first time in a few games. Not that it brings much good news with it. I honestly don’t remember the last time Long Beach scored in a half-court set and LMU is just wreaking havoc on the 49ers’ smaller lineup. Plater hits a three to make me shut my mouth, but LMU is still riding a high as we near halftime.

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33-24 LMU, 3:53
The 49ers show a half-court trap which yields two quick steals, but Long Beach is unable to turn those opportunities into points. Meanwhile, LMU’s Vernon Teel nails a three-pointer to give the Lions a surprising cushion. This feels a lot like the Pepperdine game back in November; it took Long Beach until the second half to turn on the jets in that game.

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31-24 LMU – 5:11
Long Beach currently shooting 42.9% from the floor while LMU is hitting 52.4% of their shots. There’s your game right there. The 49ers really need to find some consistency on offense. T.J. Robinson is the only one who is playing decisively and effectively in the half-court. He leads with 10 points and 5 rebounds.

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28-23, LMU – 6:13
The offense has gone sour for Long Beach with Casper Ware on the bench. The guard trio of Jesse Woodard, Greg Plater and Larry Anderson couldn’t get anything going and committed several consecutive turnovers. LMU took advantage and Kevin Young just threw down a huge two-handed alley oop jam. Coach Monson calls a timeout to politely offer encouragement and send Ware back into the game.

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21-19, LMU – 9:32
The 49ers are playing solid team defense; very active on the ball as well as away from it, but LMU is really quick at every position and their movement is creating cutting lanes and forcing Long Beach to switch into unfavorable matchups. Long Beach is rebounding well, too, but they’ll need to be more efficient in the half-court offense than they have been thus far. A productive Larry Anderson would be a huge lift, but he continues to sit.

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17-17 tie – 12:25
Westchester High product Jarred DuBois has 6 points to lead LMU early as both teams are running pretty well offensively. Larry Anderson is off to another slow start and takes a seat for Greg Plater. The 49ers are doing a pretty good job containing Viney, who has 4 points but has had to work hard for them. WARNING: Long Beach will not get – and has not gotten – any help from the officials tonight.

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9-7, LMU – 15:53
Already, this is looking like it’s going to be a battle. The 49ers and Lions play a very similar style of game; both teams are loaded with talent and both coaches are trying to get their terams to play gutty, physical basketball. Viney has gotten going early with a jumper and a heads-up play to steal a lazy inbounds pass from Eugene Phelps.

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4-3, Long Beach State – 17:03
Off the bat, Larry Anderson matches up on Drew Viney, LMU’s 6-foot-5 leading scorer. Looks like the 49ers are planning on giving Anderson plenty of help in the post with double teams, but the Lions are far from a one-man show. Five players score in double figures; a balanced high-octane attack similar to Long Beach State’s.A Casper Ware lob to Eugene Phelps leads to a monster two-handed jam.

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Your starting line-ups

Long Beach State

  • Eugene Phelps
  • T.J. Robinson
  • Larry Anderson
  • Casper Ware
  • Stephan Gilling

Loyola Marymount

  • Drew Viney
  • Kevin Young
  • Ashley Hamilton
  • Jarred DuBois
  • Vernon Teel

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12:00 from tip-off
We’re here at press row in the Gersten Pavilion in front of a sparse crowd as the 49ers and Lions warm up. Here’s a quick list of keys to the game:

  • Defensive intensity: Both teams score in a hurry, so whichever team comes out and sets the defensive tempo could control the game.
  • No letdowns: Long Beach State won a huge game against Utah State on Friday and faces two Top-10 teams in the next few days at Kentucky and Duke. It would be easy to overlook the Lions, but coach Dan Monson told us after the game on Friday that he’s trying to get the players to realize that good programs don’t have letdown games. Plus, Loyola Marymount has some big wins under their belts and will take advantage if Long Beach comes out sleepy.
  • Larry Anderson: We’ve been taking it easy on Larry in the last few games, waiting for him to break out of this mini-slump he’s been going through. The 49ers could really use their most athletic player to realize that he can take over a game whenever he wants to. Is tonight the night Anderson gets back on track?

Feel free to add your thoughts or questions in the Comments section below and I’ll answer them as best I can!

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Alright guys and gals, you already know the drill by now so here’s the skinny: I’m manning this here live blog while Mike is running the Twitter account with live score updates, so you’re completely covered by the guys who know Long Beach State basketball the best. We’ll be bringing you the action live from Gersten Pavilion in Los Angeles as the 49ers take on the Lions at 8:00pm tonight (click here to see our last live game blog from the Utah State game).

The quick stats on both teams are that Long Beach stands at 6-4 overall with a #66 overall ranking according to KenPom.com, while Loyola Marymount weighs in at 5-7 with big wins over USC and Notre Dame but a lower overall ranking of #160.

The Lions boast five players who score in double figures, led by sophomore forward Drew Viney at 17.1 points and 6.7 rebounds per game. Long Beach State coach Dan Monson has said that Viney is one of the most impressive offensive players they’ll face all season, which is high praise considering the 49ers have already seen Notre Dame’s Luke Harangody, West Virginia’s Da’Sean Butler and Devin Ebanks, and a slew of Texas Longhorns.

I tend to think of Viney more along the lines of Pepperdine’s Keion Bell, not because they have similar games – Viney is a 6-foot-7 forward while Bell was a 6-foot-2 guard – but because they’re two very talented players who are good enough to dominate a small pond like the West Coast Conference. Bell scored 21 on just 8-21 shooting against the 49ers back in November, how will Viney fare tonight?

We’ll be heading up the 405 Freeway to Gersten Pavilion shortly, so stay tuned to this post and you won’t miss a thing!