Long Beach State University
11-6, 4-0BWC
UC Davis
1-15, 0-4BWC
Phelps' career high 23 points leads 49ers past UC Davis
1/12/2012 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Jan. 12, 2012
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LONG BEACH, Calif. - Eugene Phelpsscored a career-high 23 points to lead Long Beach State to an 86-58 win over UC Davis in Big West Conference action Thursday night in the Walter Pyramid.
Phelps, who made 11-of-16 shots, scored 17 of his points in the second half en route to his eighth career double-double. He finished with 11 rebounds as LBSU (11-6, 4-0 Big West) pulled away from the Aggies (1-15, 0-4 Big West). James Ennis added 18 points, one shy of his season high, and six rebounds. T.J. Robinson scored 12 points, while Casper Warehad 11.
Josh Ritchart led three Aggies in double figures with 12 points.
Long Beach State outscored UC Davis 51-29 in the second half while shooting 65.6 percent (21-of-32) from the floor. The 49ers finished the game making 58.6 percent (34-of-58) of their shots for the game, while canning 41.2 percent (7-of-17) from three. UC Davis made 41.5 percent (22-of-53) for the game, but just 35.7 percent (10-of-28) in the second half. The Aggies also committed 15 turnovers, eight more than the 49ers, which led to a 24-8 point advantage off turnovers for LBSU. Long Beach also dominated in the paint, thanks to Phelps, outscoring UCD 52-30.
The 49ers' defense made a difference early holding the Aggies without a bucket for the first four minutes and 25 seconds while forcing five turnovers. LBSU took a 6-0 lead, on a 3-pointer by Ware and an old fashioned three-point play by Robinson, despite making just two of its first seven shots.
The 49ers built the lead to 12, 14-2, with 12:53 to play holding UC Davis to 1-of-6 shooting, and a pair of free throws. Robinson had five early points, while freshman Nick Shepherdscored four.
The Aggies battled back midway through the half outscoring LBSU 19-7 to pull within two, 23-21, on a three-point play by Alex Tiffen, who led UCD with seven early points.
LBSU scored the next six points to push the lead back to eight. Phelps started it with a hoop, while Ware added a jumper and a pair of free throws. The two teams traded points the rest of the half with the 49ers taking a 35-29 lead into the half.
Ware led LBSU with eight first half points as the 49ers made 13-of-26 shots, but just 2-of-7 threes. Robinson added seven points, while Phelps and Ennis had six each.
Tiffen's seven points led the Aggies, who out-rebounded LBSU 18-14 in the half while making 12-of-25 shots.
Phelps sparked an 11-1 run to start the second half with nine points capping the streak with a dunk over J.T. Adenrele. Phelps finished the three-point play to give LBSU a 46-30 lead.
LBSU extended the streak to 23-11 to take a 58-40 lead with 11 minutes to play. Phelps scored 15 of the 23 points, while grabbing six rebounds during the stretch.
Long Beach State returns to action Saturday when the 49ers host Pacific at 4:05 p.m. The Tigers (5-10, 1-3 Big West) won 79-59 at Cal State Northridge on Thursday night.
