Dec. 23, 2011

Box Score

HONOLULU, Hawaii - Larry Anderson scored 16 points to lead Long Beach State to a 64-43 win over Auburn in the semifinals of the Diamond Head Classic at the Stan Sheriff Center on Friday night.

The 49ers advance to the championship game with the win where they will play Kansas State on Christmas at 4:30 p.m. (PT) on ESPN2. The Wildcats beat UTEP earlier in the day to advance to the championship.

Anderson and the 49ers used a second-half 16-0 run to take control against the Tigers (8-2). The decisive spurt by LBSU (7-5) was their second double-digit swing of the game. Long Beach State went on a 10-0 run midway through the first half to build its first double-digit lead with just over eight minutes left in the opening period.

Anderson, who made 5-of-6 shots, led three 49ers in double figures. Eugene Phelps (eight rebounds) and Casper Ware each scored 13 points. T.J. Robinson led the 49ers with nine rebounds, as LBSU out-boarded Auburn 43-25.

Phelps got LBSU going early scoring eight of the 49ers first 11 points in the first seven minutes of the game. Frankie Sullivan countered scoring the Tigers first eight points and the 49ers took an 11-8 lead into the under-12 media timeout.

LBSU pushed the lead to 11 going on a 10-0 run over the next 3:40 to take a 19-8 lead. Eugene Phelps and Edis Dervisevic sparked the run with baskets in the paint, which Mike Caffey followed with a driving basket out of an inbounds play. Robinson had back-to-back baskets to cap the streak.

The 49ers defense allowed them to push the lead to double digits. LBSU held Auburn without a field goal for seven minutes and 29 seconds from the 13:24 mark until there was 5:55 on the clock. Sullivan snapped the drought with a three, giving him 14 of the Tigers first 18 points.

The 49ers built the lead to as many as 13 in the first half when Anderson converted a 3-point play with 6:09 to play. Auburn was able to narrow the lead to seven with 37 second to play on a pair of free throws by Kenny Gabriel, but Ware answered with three free throws after being fouled on a 3-point shot with four seconds to play.

Long Beach State held Auburn to 6-of-26 shooting (23.1 percent) in the half. Sullivan made 5-of-10 shots while the rest of the Tigers combined to go 1-for-16 (0.06 percent). Sullivan connected on 4-of-7 threes too finish the half with 14 points and four rebounds.

Phelps and Anderson led the 49ers with nine points each, while Robinson had six points and six boards. LBSU converted on 10-of-20 shots and 10-of-13 free throws, but the 49ers turned the ball over six eight times.

The 49ers opened the second half with a 5-0 run on a 3-pointer by James Ennis and a hoop by Phelps to extend the lead to 15, but Auburn answered with a 6-2 run to cut the lead back to 11 with 16 minutes to play.

Phelps and Anderson continued to supply the offense for the 49ers over the next four minutes scoring five of the team's six points, but Sullivan kept Auburn close scoring five points in 25 seconds to cut the 49er lead to 46-38 with 11:55 to go. That is when things turned bad for the Tigers.

Ware, who struggled from the field most of the game missing his first seven shots, finally canned a three from the top of the key to get the lead back to 11, 49-38, forcing Auburn to burn a timeout.

Caffey came away with a steal on the next possession and found Ennis in the open court. Auburn fouled him to prevent the bucket, but Ennis nailed both free throws to make it 51-38. Ware added two more free throws after getting fouled in transition on the next trip down to make it 53-38.

Dervisevic scored on a put back and Ware canned another three to make it a 12-0 run and give LBSU a 20-point lead, 58-38. Caffey extended LBSU's run to 14 points with a pull up jumper in the key to make it a 22-point game, and then he found Anderson with a beautiful behind the back pass to finish the 16-point spurt.

Long Beach State held Auburn to 26.3 percent (15-of-57) shooting. Sullivan was 8-of-16, but the rest of the Tigers combined to make just 7-of-41 (17 percent) of their shots. The 49ers connected on 42.6 percent (20-of-47) field goals and 76 percent (19-of-25) of their free throws.