After falling behind by ten points in the first half, the Long Beach State 49ers used their depth and athleticism to go on a 40-13 run, defeating the UC Davis Aggies on their own homecourt by a score of 86-78. Donovan Morris paced the 49ers with 27 points, scoring 15 in the first half – many of those coming during Long Beach’s cutthroat run before halftime. The victory sealed the 49ers’ second four-game winning streak of the season, their first in two years. Long Beach currently stands alone at the top of the Big West conference schedule with a 4-0 record.
The 49ers’ fourth-straight conference victory that put them securely atop the Big West standings is a monumental achievement that no one saw coming, relying on four freshmen to redeem last season’s 6-25 overall record. A week into the conference schedule, their closest competition is UC Riverside at 2-1, and the Highlanders haven’t played anyone worthwhile – while the 49ers have soundly defeated two contenders and a rising conference star.
As LBPOSTSports.com Managing Editor J.J. Fiddler noted before the game, Donovan Morris was due for a big game. And the All-Everything two-guard did not disappoint, making 6 of his 9 shots during the first-half run. But J.J. also imagined that the 49ers would go the way of Steph Gilling and his outside shooting – but the Fidd faltered in that respect. This team no longer depends on any one player for their success. This is the team that won three straight despite Morris’ scoring struggles, and depended on a different leading scorer for each victory,
No, this team has transcended reliance on any one player.
Morris led the team in scoring tonight, but freshman Eugene Phelps sparked the first half run with lay-ins and dunks, Casper Ware used quickness and vision to beat the Aggie pressure while Larry Anderson orchestrated the attack with six assists. The 49ers used a four-guard rotation to frustrate the Aggies into nine turnovers, while shooting a remarkable 17-21 from the field during the run.
What led to the onslaught? Hold on, let’s not forget that UC Davis jumped out to an early lead first.
The Aggies’ Mark Payne embarrassed Long Beach State with two early dunks; one on a basic back-pick lob and the other on a baseline drive. The big guard is no threat from outside, but is a beast attacking the basket and the 49ers paid for their lack of interior defense (it’s worth noting that Brian Freeman played just 11 minutes in the game).
Payne went off for 22, ten boards and seven dimes. But the 49ers held Joe Harden, Davis’ leading scorer, to just 14 points – many of them inconsequential in the final minutes. In fact, the Aggies’ over-reliance on Payne and Harden is what killed them in the end: just two others scored in double figures while only six Aggies played more than ten minutes (nine 49ers logged double-digits).
The turning point came as Davis took a 20-14 lead early in the first half, when Long Beach made two crucial adjustments: placing Larry Anderson at the point, and deploying their bench.
The 6’6” Anderson led the 49ers’ offensive attack and headed their 1-3-1 pressing defense, presenting extreme challenges to the Aggie offense with his length and quickness, Alongside him were the slashing Casper Ware and sharpshooting Greg Plater – making it extremely difficult for Davis to account for two different types of offensive threats.
The Aggies never found an answer, allowing the 49ers to run wild. The blossoming Phelps ran the floor for a two-handed jam, and when Ware soon found him underneath for another flush, the rout was on. The Aggies were worn down by the time Morris entered the floor, and he poured it on with three 3-pointers in a matter of minutes. But it was all organized by the catalyst Anderson, who finished with 13 points – but also six assists, four rebounds and four steals.
Basically, the first half of the game at UC Davis was the best-case scenario when you’re dealing with four freshmen on the road.
Without a doubt, what we’re seeing now in the 49ers is a team that has benefited fron being thrown into the fire with a tortuous pre-conference schedule against foes like BYU, Wisconsin, Syracuse and Temple.
After that, UC Santa Barbara, Pacific and UC Davis don’t seem so intimidating.