In the wake of facing No. 15-ranked Xavier on Thursday in Hawaii, the Long Beach State men’s basketball team was able to avoid a letdown against Eastern New Mexico.
Four 49ers (5-5) scored in double figures en route to a 76-54 victory over the Greyhounds (10-5) on Monday night. The ‘Niners shot 51.7 percent from the field (30-for-58) and forced 20 turnovers to help seal the win.
The ‘Niners defense held the high–powered ‘Hounds offense to a season-low 54 points on 44.2 percent shooting (23-for-52). The Greyhounds have scored 90 or more points on five different occasions this season.
Junior wing James Ennis led the way for LBSU, scoring 15 points on 5 of 9 from the field, including 2 of 4 from 3-point range. Senior guard Larry Anderson added 14 points on 6 of 9 from the field, and pulled down seven rebounds.
Senior forward Eugene Phelps chipped in 11 points on 4 of 9 shooting, while grabbing six rebounds. Senior point guard Casper Ware had a shaky shooting performance, but finished with 10 points on 4 of 12 from the field, to go with three steals.
LBSU head coach Dan Monson said he felt his team could have played better, but he was encouraged by his team’s performance.
“I thought it (the teams performance) was okay; I certainly wouldn’t say we played great,” he said. “I wasn’t devastated by our performance by any means, but it wasn’t as crisp as I wanted it to be.”
Anderson echoed his coach’s sentiments.
“[Our performance] was alright,” he said. “We could have played a little better, but overall it was pretty solid.”
The ‘Niners bench played a huge role in the victory. Freshman reserve guard Mike Caffey scored nine points on 4 of 6 shooting while dishing out two assists. Senior forward Edis Dervisevic also provided a spark off the bench scoring eight points on 4 of 5 shooting and handed out four assists.
The ‘Niners bench contributed 22 points for the game, and coach Monson praised the play of Caffey and Dervisevic.
“Mike (Caffey) really played well his first stint in; he’s an awful good freshman,” he said. “And, Edis came in and sparked us in the first half, and came in and calmed us down in the second half.”
Monson added: “They’re very valuable. They come in and they know their roles, and have accepted them, and they have given us real good minutes like that all year.”
LBSU was able to dominate in nearly every statistical category. They held a 36-28 rebounding advantage and outscored the Greyhounds, 48-28, in the paint. They also dropped in 18 points on second chance opportunities.
Dervisevic said that the matchup against Xavier later in the week drove his aggressiveness in this game.
“Were going into a big tournament, so we have to get our minds right,” he said. “We have to stay hungry and come out with a fight every game.”
LBSU held a 40-26 lead at the half, led by Caffey’s seven points in the opening period. The Greyhounds, however, were able to mount a small run at the beginning of the first half with a 7-0 run to cut the lead to seven, 40-33.
The Beach answered with a 14-5 run of their own, extending the lead to 54-38 midway through the second half.
The Greyhounds didn’t let up, though. They scored five consecutive points to bring the 49ers 17-point lead down to 12, (61-49) with just over five minutes remaining.
The Greyhounds never got closer than that, though, as LBSU closed out the game with a 15-5 run, securing the win.
‘Hounds senior guard Stefan Mirabal led all scorers with 19 on 7 of 13 shooting, including 5 of 10 from behind the arc. Local product Aaron Edward (Gardena HS) chipped in 14 points on 6 of 14 shooting and pulled down seven rebounds.
The ‘Niners head to Hawaii for the Diamond Head Classic where they will face No. 15 Xavier on Thursday at 8 p.m. (PT). The game can be seen on ESPNU.
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