Despite an off night from star T.J. Robinson, the Long Beach State men’s basketball team rebounded to pick up its first win of the season in an 82-65 blowout against San Francisco State at the Walter Pyramid on Monday night.
Robinson committed five turnovers in the first half and was scoreless in his 12 minutes. The junior’s night didn’t get much better as he ended with six points and six rebounds in 22 minutes of action.
“I asked T.J. at half and he said ‘It’s my bad, I wasn’t ready,’ so we started Edis [Dervisevic] in the second half,” LBSU head coach Dan Monson said.
“To his credit he’s been a man here for three years and that’s the first game I can remember him not being ready to play.”
With Robinson unable to get things going in the first half, Monson looked to fellow big men Eugene Phelps and Dervisevic to protect the paint and provide an inside scoring threat. Phelps kept the team together early with eight points and four rebounds in the half while Dervisevic came off the bench to contribute six points, three rebounds and two assists.
“Edis really knows how to play and he’s really going to help this basketball team,” Monson said.
After a slow start, in which the Gators got out to a five-point lead, the 49ers offense got rolling midway through the half. In a 90-second stretch, The Beach controlled the ball while erupting for 10 unanswered points highlighted by a Casper Ware layup, 3-pointer and another field goal to take the lead, 20-15.
“I felt like people were being passive so I felt that if I picked it up everyone else would pick it up and be aggressive and play how we normally play,” Ware said.
Ware shined in the battle of point guards with 10 points, four rebounds, two assists, two steals and a block in the opening half. His counterpart Marquel Hoskins had a first half to forget with six turnovers and only three points. Ware finished the game with 16 points, six assists and six steals to lead the 49ers.
LBSU found their stride from behind the arc in the second half after starting the game 0-of-4 from long distance. Greg Plater hit two 3-pointers and Ware added one of his own in a crucial part of the game as The Beach pulled away thanks to a combination of sharp shooting and solid defense.
The second half was never close as the Gators failed to cut the lead under 10.
Reserve forward Lin Chang saw the court for the first time this season and made the most of his minutes. Chang hit back-to-back 3-pointers midway through the second half and followed them up with two free throws. His night ended with eight points and four rebounds in eight minutes.
The highlight of the game came in the final minute of the first half as Ware, about to land out of bounds, elevated to grab a loose ball. He was able to come up with the steal and push it up to Anderson, who found Phelps under the basket to end the half and carry momentum into the locker room.
LBSU will now travel to the Virgin Islands to participate in the Paradise Jam Tournament where it will face Clemson on Friday at 12:30 p.m. The 49ers lost to the Tigers last season, 87-79, in the 76 Classic.
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