+

-

8:00am | In the post-Pittsburgh victory after-glow, the 49er faithful around the LBC celebrated into the night from bars to Barca Loungers, in the little social media and the big TV/print media.   They also got a lot cred from their brothers in the Big West and the upcoming stops on their 2011 Respect Me tour--San Diego State, Louisville, Kansas, North Carolina, and Xavier.


And trust me, one of the best breaks the Beach got was playing on slow news Wednesday to a national audience hungry for hoops with the NBA playing in the legal court not the basketball court.  The TV pictures were better for the home folks than all the paintings in the Getty unless you were Pitt Coach Jamie Dixon (he of the 58-game home non-conference win streak).  One 49er fan said his Dixon’s post game face, “looked like he had seen a ghost—yeah Casper the friendly ghost!”

Long Beach State officials called it a “signature win”.  Lebron James agreed and a host of former Niners and other pros kept up their membership in the Casper Ware Fan club, the almost 5-10 guard scored a career-high 28 points as the lead part of a quartet of four 49ers in double figures.  End result No. 9 Pittsburgh goes down 86-76 before 8,215 86-76 at the Petersen Events Center.
 
“I’m proud of them,” Long Beach State coach Dan Monson said. “It’s a great start for the year, but it’s a long year. This game puts us on the national radar now for the next 48 hours, but we have to go to San Diego State on Saturday and if we don’t take care of business there, then it’s all for not. This is a veteran group and our goal is to not let that happen.”
 
“We’re going to enjoy this, and it’s great for a mid-major because we’ll be recognized a little bit, Monson added. “This group hasn’t been to the NCAA Tournament yet and I think we would trade this for that. That goal at the end of the year is not attained in one game. We have a lot of work ahead of us.”
 
While it was a team victory for sure, the four seniors got critical contributions from James Ennis working both ends of the floor. The 49er JC sharpshooter (playing the wing) scored 19 points, handed out six assists, grabbed five steals and pulled down four rebounds. He converted on 6-of-10 shots, while making 2-of-5 from three and 5-of-6 free throws. Ennis was the key in LBSU outscoring Pitt 25-5 on fast breaks and 48-31 in the paint.
 
The familiar faces of Larry Anderson (12 points, while tying his career high with seven assists) and T.J. Robinson (11 points and eight rebounds) were major players but as team the Beach offense did the job (59.9 percent (32-for-54) for the game.)  Burly Eugene Phelps chipped in eight points and seven rebounds and his feisty 49er partner Edis Dervisevic avoided a T and came off the bench for pressure and six points
 
Long Beach State led by as many as 11, 45-36, with less than a minute to play before the break and the long range talents of Panther Ashton Gibbs furrowed the 49er brow. 
 
On top of the opening game win over Idaho, the Niner mark moved to 2-0 and really  never let Pitt (2-1) back in the game just as they felt they would when the got off the bus.  “We expected to win this game,” Ware said. “In the locker room before the game, we knew we were going to win this game.”
 
Next up on Saturday afternoon is a puzzling San Diego State team.  The Aztecs opened with three games at home last weekend, winning easily over Bryant, Southern Utah and UC Davis. This week was a different challenge, and in Waco Baylor scored 17 points off turnovers, 10 more than San Diego State. 
The Aztecs only key returner, Chase Tapley, had 28 points in the loss to Baylor.  Thursday night they should get well against USC but somewhere the legs and the road may become important to SDSU (playing its fourth game in five days).  SDSU works again in the Viejas Casino for the televised 7 p.m. USC game (scout from your BarcaLounger if you like).  
Friday is laundry and a short rest before the 1:30 Saturday tip against the Cinderella CSU kids."I don't think fatigue was a factor. I think Baylor was a factor," Aztec skipper Steve Fisher said. "Their length and their athleticism took away what looked like could be baskets a little bit like we did last year."  Possibly he may be able to recycle that quote for Saturday night.

Comments

Click Here to Join the Discussion on this Story

3 Comments so far.

Display Name :
E-mail Address :
Comment :