Jan. 29, 2011
Long Beach, Calif. -
Casper Ware erupted for 19 of his game-high 21 points in the second half and Larry Anderson had 10 in each half as Long Beach State defeated Cal State Fullerton, 75-60, in a Big West Conference game before a sellout crowd of 5,040 in the Walter Pyramid.
The 49ers also got 12 points and 12 rebounds from Eugene Phelps to avenge an 89-87 loss at Fullerton on Jan. 19 and improve to 13-10 and 8-2 in the Big West.
Fullerton got 17 points and 7 rebounds from Jer'Vaughn Johnson and 12 points off the bench from Isiah Umipig but fell to 8-14 and 4-5. Andre Hardy had 9 rebounds but the Titans were outrebounded, 44-35.
Long Beach overcame an early 10-0 Fullerton lead and led all the way after taking a 17-16 lead at 10:46. The lead grew to as many as 22 points at 53-31 at 15:08 before Fullerton made a 15-2 run to cut the margin to a single digit at 55-46 at 9:56. But the 49ers scored the next 9 points and weren't seriously threatened In the final seven minutes.
Ware scored 16 points in the first five minutes of the second half as the 49ers outscored Fullerton, 18-4, to stretch their 8-point halftime lead.
"I was disappointed with the way we played tonight, especially offensively," said CSF Coach Bob Burton. "But credit Long Beach with playing outstanding defense. They are a hard team for us to chase."
Fullerton is home next week to UC Irvine and UC Riverside.