When the Long Beach State men’s basketball team takes the court Wednesday night, the home crowd will bid farewell to one of the most productive squads in LBSU history.
Seven LBSU players will play their final game on the Pyramid floor as the ‘Niners (21-7, 14-0 Big West Conference) take on UC Irvine (11-17, 6-8 Big West) at 7 p.m.
Larry Anderson, Eugene Phelps, T.J. Robinson, Casper Ware, Edis Dervisevic, Corey Jackson, and Sean Starkey will all be honored before the game as part of senior night.
These players, however, understand there is still work to be done as the Big West tournament approaches.
“We just have to come out and be focused,” Robinson said. “It is senior night, it’s going to be a great crowd. It’s great for us, great for our seniors who built a legacy here.”
Robinson added: “We have to come out and focus on winning the game first and after that we can celebrate and have fun for senior night.”
In order for the 49ers to continue their dominance of the Big West as the tournament nears, Robinson said the team must stick together as they have done all season long.
“We have to do what we’ve been doing all year and play together,” Robinson said. “When we play together we can play with anyone in the country. Coach [Monson] always says ‘you can be greater than what you are’ so we just have to come out with a great focus and play together.”
The senior forward said the team is still looking to pick up its defensive intensity in order to stop the Anteaters ability to get to the basket.
LBSU head coach Dan Monson echoed the need to focus on defense and said the team’s experience level will help it harness the emotions of its final home game.
“Defensively we can’t let them [Irvine] get into a flow,” Monson said. “This is a team that has been in the 90 [point range] several times, we can’t let them come in here and get comfortable and get into a shootout. We’ve got to control their offense with our defense.”
Monson said his squad is prepared for big moments like the one they will face on senior night.
“They have played in a lot of big games over four years,” he said. “You give them that moment because they can handle it, they are at a point in their career where they deserve to be honored. They came in as young men and are leaving this building tomorrow as grown men.”
Monson said it is important to focus each individual task as post-season play begins next week.
“First and foremost we hope to accomplish two more wins,” he said. “Second thing is to keep improving both mentally and physically cleaning things up. The most pleasing thing is the last game or two I think we’ve gotten a little bit better and our guys are starting to play their best basketball at the right time.”
UCI is led by junior guard Damon Starring, who is averaging 11.9 points per game so far this season. Junior guard Michael Wilder is the ‘Eaters second leading scorer at 11.5 points per contest.
When the Beach faced the Anteaters earlier in the season, Robinson and Ware led the team to a 74-60 victory in the Big West opener.
Robinson scored 14 points to go along with a game-high 13 rebounds while Ware was the game’s high-scorer with 19.
After the matchup with the Anteaters, the Beach will close out the regular season at Cal State Fullerton on Saturday at 4 p.m.