Long Beach State University
(11-10, 6-2)
UC Irvine
(10-10, 3-3)
49ers fall at UC Irvine
1/22/2011 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Jan. 22, 2011
IRVINE, Calif. - Greg Plater led four Long Beach State players in double figures but it wasn't enough as UC Irvine knocked off the 49ers 86-76 at the Bren Center on Saturday night.
Plater finished with 18 points, 15 coming in the first half, while Casper Ware added 17 points. Eugene Phelps had his fifth career double-double with 17 points and 11 rebounds, while T.J. Robinson had his 32nd career double-double scoring 13 points and grabbing 11 boards.
Mike Wilder led three Anteaters in double figures with 24 points and 13 rebounds. Eric Wise and Darren Moore both chipped in 21 points as UCI hit 50 percent of its shots, including 9-of-18 from three. The Eaters also connected on 27-of-29 free throws.
Long Beach State hit just 40.6 percent of its shots, while suffering through a 4-of-23 (17.4 percent) night from three. LBSU attempted 19 more shots than UCI thanks to 15 offensive boards. Phelps and Larry Anderson (7 points, 7 rebounds) each had five offensive rebounds.
The 49ers jumped on UCI early behind two baskets from Plater to take a 4-0 lead, but the Anteaters rallied outscoring LBSU 15-5 to take a 15-9 lead with 14:30 to play. UCI canned all three of its 3-pointers to take the early lead.
Edis Dervisevic and Phelps scored back-to-back baskets with Phelps' a conventional three-point play to get LBSU within one, 15-14. UCI answered with an 8-2 run to grab its biggest lead of the half, 23-16.
The 49ers came racing back again outscoring the Anteaters 21-12 the rest of the way to take a two-point lead, 37-35, into the break. Plater sparked the run with a three en route to scoring nine points during the streak. Robinson added six points during the run with the final basket coming with under five seconds to play to give LBSU the lead.
Plater led the 49ers with 15 first half points, on 6-of-11 shooting from the floor and 3-of-8 shooting from three. Phelps added seven points and a team-high five rebounds in the half. Wise and Wilder led the Anteaters with 11 points apiece as UCI shot a 54.5 percent from the floor and 55.6 percent from three.
LBSU struggled from the floor making just 42.9 percent of its shots and only 3-of-12 threes. The 49ers were able to take the lead into the locker room thanks to taking 13 more shots than the Eaters due in part to eight offensive boards and 10 UCI turnovers.
Irvine came out of the half and took the lead on a four-point play by Wilder. The teams traded baskets for much of the first nine minutes of the second half before UCI went on a 5-0 run to push the lead to 54-49 on a breakaway by Moore.
Ware answered with a jump shot to cut the lead to three, but UCI scored the next four to extend the lead to 58-51 with 9:30 to play. UCI pushed the lead to as many as 11, before LBSU went on a 9-0 run to cut the lead to three, 73-70, on a put back by Phelps.
Long Beach State could never get closer as UCI iced the game at the free throw line scoring 15 of their final 17 points at the line. The Eaters converted on 11-of-12 freebies after LBSU cut the lead to three.
