Long Beach State University Athletics
Long Beach State University
7-7, 2-0BWC
Cal Poly
3-9, 0-2BWC
Long Beach State Defeats Cal Poly, 70-57
1/4/2009 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Jan. 4, 2009
LONG BEACH, Calif. - Long Beach State used an 18-0 run to end the first half and begin the second half to rally from a double-digit first half deficit en route to a 70-57 win over Cal Poly in a Big West Conference game at the Walter Pyramid Sunday.Sophomore Greg Plater and junior Stephan Gilling combined to make nine 3-pionters to lead the 49ers to the win. Plater came off the bench to make five and Gilling added four.
Plater finished with a team-high 15 points to push the 49ers (7-7, 2-0 Big West) to the win. Gilling added 14 and freshman Larry Anderson had 10 points. Freshman T.J. Robinson chipped in eight points and a team-high seven rebounds.
LBSU struggled for most of the first half. The Beach made just 4-of-24 shots in the first 17:50 and trailed by 12. The 49ers caught fire in the last 2:07 making five of their last six shots before the break including four 3-pointers to take a two-point lead into the half.
Plater sparked the Long Beach State 14-0 run to end the half making three 3-pointers. Gilling added a 3-pointer and freshman Eugene Phelps scored in the key to give the 49ers a 32-30 lead at half.
Before the 14-point streak to end the half, The Beach was able to hang around with unusually good free throw shooting. LBSU made its first nine from the charity stripe and finished the half 9-of-10. The 49ers finished 15-of-19 from the line.
The Beach continued to make shots in the second half finishing the final 20 minutes making 50 percent of its shots. The 49ers were even better from 3-point range where they made 6-of-11 (54.5 percent).
Long Beach State out-rebounded Cal Poly (3-9, 0-2 Big West) 40-37 and held the Mustangs to just 35.6 percent shooting (21-of-59) from the floor and 27.8 percent (5-of-18) from 3-point range.
