The Long Beach State men’s basketball team proved that one half of basketball is all it takes to highlight the discrepancies between first and last place teams.
The 49ers dismantled UC Davis in the second period en route to an 86-58 victory Thursday night at the Walter Pyramid.
Up only six at the break, forward Eugene Phelps led the ‘Niners [11-6, 4-0 Big West Conference] attack which outscored the Aggies [1-15, 0-4 Big West] 51-29 in the second half.
Phelps scored 17 of his career-high 23 points in the second half and shot 11-of-16 from the field for the game.
The senior also pulled down 11 rebounds, giving him the first 20/10 game of his career. The performance gave Phelps his eighth career double-double and second of the season. He also added four assists to tie a career-high and one block.
Phelps obtained the basket which gave him the new high after pulling down a rebound and taking the ball coast-to-coast for the lay-in.
Phelps was happy to carry the load and even had a feeling this night was coming.
“It feels real good. I have not had a good game in a while,” he said. “I had teammates looking for me here, there and coaches running plays for me so it felt real good.”
Phelps added: “For some strange reason I had a dream [last night] I had a real good game. So, I just had the mindset to attack the basket at all times. I just woke up and I felt it; just attack mode.”
The only scare facing LBSU did not come from the scoreboard. In the first half, freshman guard Mike Caffey, who has been logging important minutes as of late and providing a spark off the bench, went down with a high ankle sprain.
‘Niners head coach Dan Monson said Caffey injured his right ankle after coming down awkwardly from contesting a shot and is “fifty-fifty, maybe a little less” for Saturday’s game.
The rest of the starting lineup provided big numbers to support Phelps’ career night. Three of the four joined him with double figures in the scoring column, led by junior guard James Ennis who scored 18 to go along with six rebounds, two assists and two steals.
Ennis capped the night off with a steal and LBSU’s last bucket, a thunderous semi-windmill dunk that brought 2,278 49er faithful to their feet.
Seniors T.J. Robinson and Casper Ware scored 12 and 11 respectively. Ware added 5 rebounds and 3 assists.
As a team, LBSU shot 58.6 percent [38 of 54] on the evening–including a staggering 65.6 percent [21 of 32] in the second half.
While the offense was clicking on all cylinders, the ‘Niners also made a solid defensive showing, holding the Aggies to just 41.5 percent [22 of 53] from the field for the game.
The Aggies were led by sophomore forward Josh Ritchart, who scored 12 points to go with four rebounds and two assists. Junior guard Ryan Howley added 10 points and six boards.
Monson said it was the goal to get the ball down-low to Phelps.
“Our game plan was to try to get it inside, we felt like we had an advantage in there. He [Phelps] really attacked the rim well.”
Monson added that after jumping out to a 14-2 advantage in the early going, he was happy with the team’s quick start, something the squad is not accustomed to.
“It was progress for this team. We have not been getting out of the gate good and that is a big emphasis of ours.”
The Beach returns to the court Saturday afternoon when it hosts the University of Pacific [5-10, 1-3 Big West] at 4:05 p.m.
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