From LBPOSTSports.com (story by J.J Fiddler)
Long Beach State is making nail-biters a habit, and on Sunday evening in the ‘Myd, Donovan Morris’ season-high 30 points helped the 49ers seal up and mail in their third straight victory, this one over New Mexico State, 82-77.
The wins over Weber State and Idaho State both came in overtime, as Long Beach couldn’t seem to close it out in regulation. Weber hit a 3-pointer at the buzzer to send it into the extra period, and in Idaho tied on free throws, and then went to double OT when Morris missed a short jumper.
On Sunday, it was 36-35 Aggies at the break and the second half had another overtime written all over it.
With five ties and 16 lead changes, it ended up being the Long Beach defense that tipped the scales. Trailing 75-71 with 2:16 remaining in the game, Morris and freshman guard Casper Ware led a 9-0 run that included four steals from the 49ers, two from Ware. On his first steal, Ware looked down-court and found freshman Larry Anderson for the two-handed dunk that made it 78-75 Long Beach.
New Mexico’s Gordo Castillo made two free throws for the Aggies to trim the lead to 80-77 with 29 second remaining. However, Ware’s second steal and two free throws for the 49ers with six seconds left sealed the win. The Aggies didn’t make a field goal after the 2:18 mark of the second half.
“We were able to set the defense tonight,” said coach Dan Monson, whose under-sized squad outrebounded New Mexico State 31-28 and shot 61 percent (14-23) in the second half. “We finished the war on the boards.”
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