The Long Beach St. 49ers improved to 3-0 in Big West play with an 81-68 road win over the Cal State Northridge Matadors on Saturday night. The win was the sixth in the last seven games for the 49ers (10-6, 3-0), who moved a half-game ahead of UC Santa Barbara (7-5, 2-0) for the conference lead.
Larry Anderson led the 49ers' balanced scoring attack with 20 points and nine rebounds. T.J. Robinson scored 17 points and grabbed eight rebounds, while James Ennis and Casper Ware each scored 12 for Long Beach State. Eugene Phelps added seven points and 14 rebounds, the latter just four shy of his career high.
Northridge led briefly at 16-15 with 12 minutes remaining in the first half, but the 49ers were able to build an eight-point lead by halftime. Long Beach State never allowed Northridge any closer the rest of the way and led by as many as 17 points in the second half.
Josh Greene led Northridge with 15 points, including a trio of three-pointers. Stephan Hicks added 12 points and eight rebounds for the Matadors (4-9, 1-2). Long Beach State outrebounded Northridge 47-33, and held the Matadors to just 37.7% shooting on the night.
Long Beach State returns home to host the UC Davis Aggies on Thursday night at the Walter Pyramid.