Not only did the Long Beach State men’s basketball remain undefeated in Big West Conference play on Saturday evening, but seniors Casper Ware and T.J. Robinson played themselves into select company.
The 49ers (19-6, 12-0 Big West) dominated UC Davis (2-22, 1-11 Big West) en route to an easy 89-69 victory.
Robinson pulled down 11 rebounds for the contest, giving him 1,119 for his career and making him the Big West’s all-time leader in that category.
The senior passed Cal State Fullerton’s Tony Neal, who set the record with 1,115 boards from 1981-1985. Robinson also scored 14 points, giving him his 51st career double-double.
Ware’s two helpers on the game made him tops in LBSU history in assists. Ware passed Billy Walker (1984-1988) dishing out 509 assists thus far in his illustrious career. The senior also finished with 16 points on 6 of 11 shooting, including 3 of 7 from 3-point range.
Not to be outdone, senior forward Eugene Phelps matched his career-high with 23 points on 9 of 14 shooting. He also pulled down 9 rebounds for the contest. Phelps has recorded three career 20-point games, all coming at the expense of the Aggies.
Senior guard Larry Anderson had yet another all-around performance, scoring 15 points on 6 of 9 from the field. Anderson also pulled down four rebounds, dished out four assists and picked up three steals.
UC Davis was able to jump out to an early 8-6 lead, capitalizing on four LBSU turnovers.
The ‘Niners answered back, however, with a 12-7 run to take a 18-15 lead. An 11-0 run by the 49ers pushed the lead to double digits, and took a 46-24 lead into the break.
The second half proved more of the same for both teams. UC Davis was unable to stop the LBSU attack, and at the same time could only stand and watch as Ware and Robinson wrote themselves into the record books.
The ‘Niners shot 51.5 percent (35 of 68) from the field for the game, while holding the Aggies to just 43.4 percent (23 of 53) shooting.
Sophomore forward Josh Ritchart paced UC Davis, scoring 24 points on 9 of 15 shooting, including 7 of 14 from behind the arc.
The ‘Niners recorded their 12th consecutive victory, and their 20th straight win in Big West regular season play. LBSU also extended its conference road winning streak to 11 games.
The 49ers will travel to Omaha, Nebraska to take on Creighton in the Sears BracketBuster game on Saturday. The contest can be seen on ESPN2 at 7 p.m.
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