After starting Big West Conference play with two straight losses, the 49ers desperately needed someone to step up. Anyone.
Casper Ware answered the call and helped The Beach end its five-game losing streak with a 55-53 win over visiting UC Irvine on Saturday in front of 2,478 specatators.
The Anteaters had the ball with less than five seconds on the clock, but time expired as Michael Hunter went for a lay up.
Ware led the 49ers (7-9, 1-2 Big West Conference) with 17 points off the bench, but his defense is what helped earn LBSU the victory in a game that wouldn’t be decided until the final buzzer.
“[Ware] was a big time disruption defensively for them,” 49er head coach Dan Monson said. “He did a great job defensively and he’s still coming into his own a little bit. … No kid is working harder than he is and I think he was the difference.”
The 49ers’ team defense was also effective as it held UCI (8-8, 2-2 Big West) to just 18 field goals (18-of-44) in the game and limited Eric Wise to just 2-of-8 from the field.
Wise had averaged just over 23 points during the last five games.
Monson said that the 49ers’ focus going into the game was going to be on defense, and it led to a different starting line-up for the second straight game.
Ware, T.J. Robinson and Stephan Gilling were all taken out of the starting five for the first time this season. Jesse Woodard, Lin Chang and Greg Plater would be substituted instead.
Monson mentioned that he told the team he wanted to “clear the clutter” that had been built in the players’ heads during the five-game losing streak.
“I told them, ‘the only thing you have to be concerned about is getting stops,'” Monson said.
So, in a practice on Friday night, Monson split up the players into two teams of five and had them scrimmage each other with the winning team getting to start Saturday’s game.
The team that won the scrimmage would get the start and stay in until they surrendered five points to UCI.
The starting five lasted just over three minutes in Saturday’s game. And the usual starters, which had started the first 14 games, began the second half.
Robinson was the only other 49er to score in double figures with 11 points on 5-of-8 shooting. Larry Anderson was third on the team in scoring with seven points, as all three of his baskets came in the second half.
UCI was led by Wise’s 12 points, but eight of them came from the free-throw line. Hunter added 10 points of his own, but committed a team-high four turnovers.
LBSU had to make up a four-point first-half deficit, but tied the game on a dunk by Robinson off a turnover. The 49ers were able to build a seven-point lead when Eugene Phelps slammed home two of his six points after he blocked a shot on the other end.
The Anteaters would mount a small comeback to tie the score at 55 points, but Ware sank a shot with 1:34 remaining to give LBSU the win.
Robinson, who came into the game averaging a team-high 15.7 points per game, did not have a problem with the decision to go with different starters.
“We knew coming into [the game] that we weren’t gonna get to start,” Robinson said. “We got the win and it was a good adjustment, so I don’t care as long as we get the W.”
While the five-man first-half unit looked comfortable on the floor together – they played together during two different stretches – it wasn’t able to put the ball in the basket with consistency.
The scoring was few and far between for LBSU in the first half. The Beach only managed to convert on six field goal attempts through the first 20 minutes.
Plater led the small amount of scoring for the 49ers with six points. Ware pitched in with five points off the bench.
UCI did its damage from outside the paint as they were able to convert on numerous mid-range jump shots. Mike Wilder led the Anteaters in the first half with seven points.
The 49ers will host UC Santa Barbara (7-6, 2-1 Big West) on Thursday with tip-off scheduled for 7:05 p.m.