For the first time in nine years, the Long Beach State men’s basketball team has won its first three Big West Conference games.
The 49ers went on the road and defeated the University of Pacific Tigers, 74-66, at the Spanos Center in Stockton on Thursday night.
LBSU (8-7, 3-0 Big West) moved into sole possession of first place with the win and a UC Riverside loss to UC Davis. It’s the first time since the 1999-2000 season that the 49ers have started 3-0 in conference play.
Junior guard Stephan Gilling paced The Beach with a game-high 19 points on 7-of-15 shooting, including 4-of-10 from 3-point range. Senior Donovan Morris added 14 points on an efficient 4-of-8 from the field.
LBSU shot just under 53 percent (27-of-51) in the contest and nailed 10-of-21 from beyond the arc.
Pacific (8-5, 1-1 Big West) put four players in double-figure scoring led by Chad Troyer’s 15 points. Michael Kirby contributed 14, while Sam Willard and Anthony Brown chipped in 11 apiece. As a team, the Tigers shot 42.9 percent (23-of-54) from the floor.
The ‘Niners caught fire to open the second half, in which they shot 58 percent from the field, and quickly erased a five-point halftime deficit.
Morris, who scored just two points in the first half, started the second half with a pair of 3-pointers to jumpstart the 49ers, who have won three in a row and four of their last five.
Freshman Larry Anderson scored all nine of his points in the second half and helped the ‘Niners pull away, including a fadeaway jumper to put LBSU ahead, 65-56.
Entering the contest, Pacific ranked second in the Big West with just 63 points per game allowed.
Already with two more wins than all of last season, the 49ers will travel to UC Davis on Saturday at 7 p.m.
Awesome stuff. Let’s keep this thing going, guys.