Anaheim, CA (Sports Network) - Larry Anderson scored 21 points and grabbed nine rebounds to lead the top-seeded Long Beach State 49ers past the seventh- seeded UC Riverside Highlanders, 74-63, in a Big West Conference Tournament semifinal bout from the Honda Center.
Greg Plater and Casper Ware added 17 and 16 points, respectively, for Long Beach State (22-10), which advanced to its second BWC Tournament Championship game in as many years. T.J. Robinson added 13 points and nine boards and Eugene Phelps finished with 10 rebounds for the 49ers.
UC Riverside (12-19) was led by Phil Martin's 14 points, while Javon Borum added 13 points and Kevin Bradshaw pulled 10 rebounds to go with his seven points.
The 49ers rode a 4-of-9 first half performance from three-point range to a 40-28 lead into intermission.
Long Beach State continued its torrid pace after the break, hitting 5-of-8 shots from beyond the arc over the final 20 minutes of play, as opposed to 0- of-6 for the Highlanders.
In all, the 49ers, who advance to play UC Santa Barbara, shot 52.9 percent (9- of-17) from three-point range on the night.
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