Senior point guard Casper Ware came alive in the second half, and a balanced scoring attack helped lead the senior-laden Long Beach State men’s basketball team to a 69-61 victory over Idaho on Homecoming afternoon Saturday.
The 49ers’ (1-0) four seniors scored in double figures, while freshman guard Mike Caffey contributed 25 solid minutes off the bench against the Vandals (0-1).
Ware, who struggled in the first half, scoring just five points on 2 of 7 shooting, came up huge after halftime, scoring 15 of his game-high 20 points. He had a solid night from the field, going 7 of 17 and 3 of 9 from behind the arc. He also pitched in four assists and two steals.
Ware said his slow start didn’t have an effect on the outcome of the game because of his teammates’ ability to pick up the slack.
“I missed a couple shots [early] and I felt like I didn’t have to force anything,” he said. “We’ve got a lot of players that can score.”
After a Ware three-pointer gave The Beach a 66-59 lead with just under three minutes remaining, they never looked back. Caffey put the game out of reach at 69-61 with 25 seconds remaining.
Senior forward Larry Anderson had a great shooting performance, going a perfect 4 of 4 from the field, while connecting on a career-high three buckets from long range for 16 points on the night. He also dished out seven assists.
Senior forward T.J. Robinson recorded a double-double for The Beach with 10 points and 11 rebounds. Senior forward Eugene Phelps added 11 points and six rebounds, while freshman guard Mike Caffey came off the bench scoring six points on 3 of 6 shooting.
LBSU head coach Dan Monson said he was happy with Caffey’s composure.
“Mike Caffey really makes good decisions,” he said. “For a freshman, he was very composed. He is pretty unflappable.”
Monson also said he was encouraged by his team’s play, and compared Idaho to some of the squads The Beach will be facing when Big West Conference play begins.
“I am really pleased; that was a very good opening game for us,” he said. “It’s the same type of offense and players [that we will face in conference play], and that was a league caliber game.”
He added: “I think they would be a top-three team in our league, and it was a great to see the guys stay together, not panic and win the game”
The Vandals put up a tremendous effort in the loss, stifling the ‘Niners with an effective 2-3 zone defense in the first half. Idaho held the ‘Niners to just 34.5 percent shooting, and took a 29-27 lead into the break.
Monson said his team needs to work on their timing for zone defenses.
“They played 38 minutes of zone, and this time of year it’s about timing, and kids getting comfortable against a zone,” he said. “We probably practice 70 percent of our offense against man defense.”
The Vandals were led by senior guard Deremy Geiger, who finished with 13 points on 4 of 8 from the field and four rebounds. Local product junior center Kyle Barone (Pacifica High in Garden Grove) finished with 11 points and nine rebounds.
Anderson said that he was surprised at how well Idaho played as a team.
“They were actually better than I expected them to be, to be honest with you,” he said. “They had a lot of scorers and played really well as a team.”
Ware attributed the team’s slow start to a small case of the first-game jitters.
“We knew everyone was going to be a little over excited,” he said. “We just settled down and took control of the game at the end.”
The Beach came out in the second half with a little more bounce in their step on both ends of the floor. Monson said that his team might have been too excited for its first game.
“They [the players] got a little excited,” he said. “They tried to do a little too much on their own. We just never really got calmed down on offense.”
The ‘Niners next game will be a tough road test at No. 11-ranked Pittsburgh on Wednesday at 6 p.m. (PT). The game will be televised on ESPNU.
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