Long Beach State University
4-4
BYU-Hawaii
3-2
Plater and Ware lead 49ers past BYU-Hawaii
12/2/2010 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Dec. 2, 2010
Long Beach, Calif. - Greg Plater and Casper Ware each had career highs to help lift Long Beach State (4-4) to a 90-83 non-conference victory over BYU-Hawaii (3-2) at the Walter Pyramid on Thursday.
Plater and Ware tied for the team lead in scoring with 22 points each. It marked the first time that two Long Beach State players have scored 20 or more points in a game since the 49ers won at Idaho last season on February 20, 2010.
Plater set a career-high with his 22 point outburst and tied his career-best by knocking down six 3-point baskets. Ware tied his career-high in scoring with 22 points.
T.J. Robinson and Eugene Phelps both finished with double-doubles in the game. Robinson had 12 points and 12 boards to record his fifth straight double-double of 2010, while Phelps recorded his personal-best fourth straight game scoring in double figures with 16 points and 13 rebounds.
As a team Long Beach State shot 60 percent in the second half and 50.8 percent for the game by hitting 30-of-59 from the field. The Beach also collected 38 boards on the night.
Plater hit from beyond the arc to open the second half scoring and give LBSU its largest lead of the game to that point, 44-34. By the first media timeout of the second half, the Seasiders closed the gap to one point after BYU-Hawaii's Jet Chang took it the length of the court for a layup.
Jake Dastrup gave BYU-Hawaii its first lead of the second half, 49-47, after hitting two shots from the free throw line, then the 49ers went on a 30-9 run to take a 77-58 lead with 6:32 left to go in the game. Robinson sparked the scoring outburst when he tied the game on a put-back. On the run, Plater sank three 3-pointers.
The Seasiders continued to battle back and went on a 22-7 run to cut the lead to 84-80 with 1:20 left on the clock. The 49ers held off BYU-Hawaii down the stretch. Free throws by Ware and Tristan Wilson stretched the 49er lead to four and Plater iced the game with a steal and layup.
In his first career start, Sean Starkey put The Beach on top early in the game when he drained a 3-pointer from the top of the key for his first points as a 49er. After a basket and free throw by the Seasiders tied the game at 3-3, Plater knocked down his first 3-pointer to put LBSU back on top by three.
BYU-Hawaii used a 9-5 run to take its first lead of the game at the 13:01 mark of the first half when Josh Scott converted on a three-point play to make it 12-11. The 49ers went on a 15-8 run after that to take a 26-20 lead over the Seasiders. Plater sparked a key play of the run when he got a steal and kicked it out to Ware who pushed it up the court and found Robinson for the score.
A bucket and two free throws by the Seasiders' Chang cut the lead to 26-24, but The Beach came right back with a 9-2 run to open up its biggest lead of the first half at 35-26. The Seasiders refused to go away behind the shooting of Chang who scored 12 of his game-high 32 points in the first half. Chang got BYU-Hawaii back to within four points, 38-34, then Phelps stretched Long Beach State's lead back to seven points when he made a basket and free throw to finish off the first half scoring for both sides.
The 49ers get back into action on Sunday, December 5 when they travel to Boise State to take on the Broncos at Taco Bell Arena at 1 p.m. (PT).
