Long Beach State University
19-7
Creighton
23-5
49ers lose a heartbreaker at Creighton on last second shot
2/18/2012 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Feb. 18, 2012
OMAHA, Neb. - Casper Ware and T.J. Robinson combined to score 41 points but it wasn't enough as Antoine Young hit the game-winning shot with 0.3 seconds to play to push Creighton to an 81-79 win in a Sears BracketBusters game Saturday night.
The 49ers (19-7) led for most of the game taking the lead with 12:24 to play in the first half, and didn't trail again until the final Creighton (23-5) basket.
Ware led LBSU with 21 points, while Robinson had 20 points and eight boards. Larry Anderson chipped in 15 points and Edis Dervisevic scored a career-high 10 off the bench.
Doug McDermott led the Bluejays with 36 points and 11 boards, while Young added 16 points.
Long Beach State connected on 58.8 percent (30-of-51) of its shots, while making 46.7 percent (7-of-15) of its threes. Creighton made 50 percent (30-of-60) of its field goals, with McDermott going 14-of-20 from the floor. The Bluejays attempted nine more shots than the 49ers, and out-rebounded LBSU 33-26.
McDermott showed why he is an All-American candidate early scoring nine points in the first three minutes to push Creighton to an 11-4 lead.
Anderson got LBSU going with back-to-back 3-pointers to cut the Bluejays lead to 13-12 with 14:02 to play.
Robinson added to Long Beach State's come back with eight points in the first seven minutes, while Dervisevic came off the bench to score two baskets as LBSU went on a 19-8 run to take a 23-19 lead with 10:44 to play.
The 49ers made it a 25-12 run to take a six-point lead, 29-23, with 7:39 to play. Six different 49ers scored with Robinson and Anderson leading the charge with 16 combined points.
Long Beach State extended the lead to nine, 37-28, on a basket by Anderson, despite playing much of the first half without Ware who picked up his second foul with 14:03 to play. Dan Monson played Ware in small spurts trying to avoid the third personal foul.
Creighton cut the lead to one, 40-39, with a minute to play but LBSU answered with a 6-2 run. James Ennis hit a three with 43 seconds to play and from Ware canned a 3-pointer from 30 feet at the buzzer to give the 49ers a 46-41 lead at half.
Robinson led LBSU with 13 first half points, while Anderson and Ware had 10 points each. Ware played just nine minutes in the half, but helped LBSU make 68 percent (17-of-25) of its shots. The 49ers also hit 6-of-10 threes. Long Beach State had 13 assists on their 17 first-half field goals, with Mike Caffey leading the way with four and four other 49ers dishing out two.
McDermott led all scorers in the first half with 16 points, on 6-of-12 shooting, while Young helped the Bluejays stay close with eight points.
Ware and McDermott went back-and-fourth early in the second half with Ware scoring seven points and McDermott answering with six in the first 4:16 of the half. Ware did pick up his third foul on a charging call with 15:44 to play and LBSU leading 59-52.
The two teams traded points through the first 8:37 of the half with both teams scoring 17 points. LBSU had a 63-58 lead before McDermott scored back-to-back baskets to cut the lead to one, 63-62. The 49ers answered in transition to push the lead back to three on an Edis Dervisevic follow of an Ennis miss.
Long Beach State pushed the lead back to seven, 71-64, on a driving basket by Caffey. The freshman's hoop came after Ware hit a jumper and knocked down two of three free throws.
Creighton outscored LBSU 17-9 over the last 7:52 of the game to pick up the win.
