49ers shot down by CSUF

A dejected Long Beach State men’s basketball team walked off the floor at Titan Gym as a sea of orange and navy blue washed away what could have been a perfect Big West Conference record.

The 49ers (22-8, 15-1 Big West) dropped a tough 77-74 contest Saturday night in a rivalry game that won’t soon be forgotten.

CSUF (21-8, 12-4 Big West) used a 19-9 run over the last seven minutes of the game to put away the ‘Niners, sending them to their first loss in conference play this season.

The Titan burst was capped by two 3-pointers from sophomore guard Isaiah Umipig and junior guard D.J. Seeley that hit nothing but net with minutes remaining.

LBSU senior guard Casper Ware was able to answer with a triple of his own to bring the 49ers within one-point, 75-74, with six seconds to play.

The ‘Niners immediately fouled Seeely on the ensuing possession, and the junior knocked down the two clutch free throws to give the Titans a three-point advantage.

Ware launched a desperation 3-pointer as time expired, but it fell short as the CSUF fans stormed the court.

LBSU head coach Dan Monson said he and his squad expected the Titans to put up a fight in this game.

“We knew it was going to be a tough game,” he said. “They’re [Fullerton] the best offensive team in this league. We gave them too many opportunities on the offensive boards, and they hit some big shots and deserved to win.”

Monson also felt that the pressure of going undefeated in conference play weighed heavily on his squads shoulders.

“We played very tight today, especially in the first half,” he said. “When we get in trouble is when we don’t trust each other and try to do too much on our own. We didn’t play as well as they did on either side of the ball.”

Ware was stymied all game long, finishing with just 10 points on 2 of 15 shooting including just 2 of 9 from 3-point range.

“He [Ware] tried to get in a flow and we didn’t help him get there,” Monson said. “You’ve got to give them [Fullerton] credit, they disrupted him, and didn’t let him get in a flow.”

Umipig said that he takes pride in his defense, and he was excited about the chance to guard the highly-touted Ware.

“When they told me I was going to guard him [Ware] I accepted the challenge,” he said. “I know Casper is a great player, but I also have a lot of confidence in myself and my defensive abilities.”

He added: “Offense is the least of our worries, we know we can score. We just wanted to put all of our focus on defense, and we came out with a win.”

The focused Titan defense held the ‘Niners to 41.4 percent shooting for the game, including 31.6 percent from behind the arc.

A pair of underclassmen helped keep LBSU close as Ware struggled, and senior guard Larry Anderson exited the game six minutes into the second period with a knee injury — he did not return.

Freshman guard Mike Caffey poured in a career-high 20 points on 7 of 11 shooting, including 3 of 7 from 3-point range. Junior wing James Ennis scored nine of his 11 points in the second period.

“I was just trying to make the right plays,” Caffey said. “Just play defense and do what I do.”

Caffey said the Umipig and Seeley 3-pointers came after a missed defensive assignment.

“I was supposed to come up [to close on shooters],” he said. “The big man had the corner, so that was on my part. I dropped and Umipig knocked it [the shot] down.”

Senior forward T.J. Robinson finished with 13 points on 5 of 10 shooting, while pulling down nine rebounds.

Robinson said the 49ers need to have a short memory in order to prepare for the Big West tournament next week.

“We just gotta look past this,” he said. “It came down to the last couple of plays, and we didn’t execute and they did. We need to win three games [in the Big West tournament] to make it to the NCAA tournament.”

Scoring was not at a premium through the first half, as Fullerton took a 35-32 lead into the break.

The ‘Niners connected on just 32 percent (8 of 25) from the field. LBSU was able to get to the free throw line early and often, shooting 14 of 18 from the charity stripe. While the Titans shot just 32.4 percent on 11 of 34 shooting.

Seeley led all scorers with 27 points on 5 of 11 shooting — all five makes coming from behind the arc. The senior also connected on 12 of 14 from the free throw line. Umipig finished with 16 points on 5 of 13 shooting, including 3 of 7 from 3-point range.

LBSU will now prepare for the Big West tournament which begins on Thursday. The ‘Niners will be the No 1. overall seed with their 15-1 conference mark.