Long Beach State head coach Dan Monson said his team was more focused for its game against Boise State after suffering its first loss of the season Saturday, and he was right.
The 49ers picked up a victory that was more lopsided than the final score indicated as history was made in the process at the Walter Pyramid on Tuesday night in front of 3,866 raucous fans.
The Beach avoided its second straight loss with a 72-62 victory over previously undefeated Boise State University.
Senior forward T.J. Robinson lifted the Beach (3-1) with his 40th career double-double en route to the win over the Broncos (3-1) as he compiled a team-high 18 points and a game-high 13 rebounds. With his fifth board of the contest, Robinson became LBSU’s all-time rebounder (906), passing Francois Wise who played for the ‘Niners from 1976-1980.
Robinson also moved into fifth all-time in rebounding in the Big West Conference.
“It is a great honor,” Robinson said. “It is special; it is not really going to hit me yet. We still have a lot of grinding to do.”
Robinson added: “I think we are playing great. We have great chemistry and we are playing together and unselfish. When we play unselfish we can beat anyone in the country.”
A balanced scoring attack and aggressive defensive play fueled the victory as the ‘Niners held the Broncos, who had previously averaged 92.6 points per game, to a less-than-pedestrian 62.
LBSU proved its depth on an off-night for senior guard and scoring leader Casper Ware, who only connected on one field goal in the game — a 3-pointer in the second half — as part of a season-low five-point performance to go with only two assists.
The team received balanced numbers elsewhere, though, with 16 points, five rebounds and two steals from junior guard James Ennis and 11 points and five boards from senior forward Eugene Phelps.
Ennis went 2 of 4 from 3-point range and dished out a game-high six assists, including a lob pass in the second half to Phelps who threw down a thunderous dunk that sent the crowd into an uproar.
“Coach was on this game [following Saturday’s overtime loss to San Diego State] to see if we can bounce back and come together as a team,” Ennis said. “We all just committed to that, to keep our chain strong, so we got the job done.”
The Beach climbed out to its biggest lead of the contest at 68-45 before the Broncos mustered up one last surge with an 11-0 run sparked by a steal and breakaway dunk from senior guard Westly Perryman.
Boise was led by freshman guard Anthony Drmic, who finished with 20 points, including 5 of 12 shooting from behind the arc.
Junior center Kenny Buckner added 14 points and six rebounds for the Broncos off the bench.
If not for free throw shooting, the game would not even have been close at the half as Boise converted 9-for-11 from the charity stripe, accounting for just over one-third of the team’s 24 points at the break.
LBSU out-shot Boise, 49.1 to 31.5 percent from the field.
The Beach will return to action Saturday at the University of Montana at 6 p.m. The contest will be the first of a two-game road trip that ends on Monday against No. 7-ranked Louisville.
“I’m worried about Montana first,” Monson said. “Montana is picked to win the Big Sky [Conference]. We will worry about the second half later.”
Monson added: “We have to continue to get better. We did not handle our last win good enough and we need to handle this one better starting tomorrow morning.”
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