Long Beach State University
1-0
Idaho
0-1
Anderson and Ware lead 49ers to season-opening win
11/12/2011 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Nov. 12, 2011
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LONG BEACH, Calif. - Senior guards Casper Ware and Larry Anderson combined for 24 second-half points to help Long Beach State overcome a two-point halftime deficit en route to a hard-fought 69-61 win over Idaho on Saturday in front of a sellout crowd of 4,348 at the Walter Pyramid.
Ware, who is on the preseason watch list for the Wooden Award, scored 15 of his game-high 20 points after intermission to help the 49ers (1-0) outscore the Vandals (0-1) by 10 in the second half. Anderson added nine points and five assists in the decisive second half.
Senior T.J. Robinson finished with 10 points and 11 rebounds, his 39th career double-double, while senior Eugene Phelps scored 10 points and grabbed six boards. Freshman point guard Mike Caffey scored six points in his first college game, but more impressively finished with no turnovers in 25 minutes of action. Junior College transfer James Ennishad six points and four rebounds in his first game as a 49er.
The 49ers sputtered from the floor in the first half, shooting just 34.5 percent (10-of-29), but found their rhythm in the second half making more than half of their shots (16-of-31).
Long Beach State went on a number of runs during the game, but the 49ers could never quite shake the Vandals in a game that was tied 13 times. The 49ers opened the second half with a 16-6 run which they capped with a 8-0 spurt to push the lead to eight with 14:23 to play on Anderson's career-best third 3-pointer of the game.
Idaho answered going on a 12-4 run of its own to tie the game 47-47 with 10:54 to play. The Vandals made it a 17-8 run with 8:15 to play to take their final lead of the game.
Ware, the reigning Big West Conference Player of the Year, found his groove over the last seven and a half minutes. He gave the 49ers the lead back with a three at the 6:56 mark, before adding six more points down the stretch to account for nine of his 20 points after the Vandals took a 52-51 lead.
Anderson was just as clutch making all four of his field goal attempts in the game, including 3-of-3 from 3-point range. He finished with 16 points, while tying a career-high with seven assists.
The first half was close throughout with the game tied six times in the first 8:20 of the game. Long Beach State went on a 9-2 run over the next 5:10 to build its lead to seven, the biggest lead of the half for either team.
Anderson sparked the run canning a three, while Robinson added a pair of baskets and Ware added a hoop. Idaho battled back outscoring LBSU 10-1 in the final 6:31 of the half to take a two-point lead into the locker room.
Robinson, who had 22 points and 15 rebounds two years ago against the Vandals in a BracketBuster game, led the 49ers with eight points and six rebounds before the break. Anderson added seven points, while Phelps had six boards. Deremy Greiger led Idaho with nine points in the first half, but added just four points in the second half.
