With Reports By Long Beach State Sports Information Department
This Long Beach State men’s basketball season has been successful because of freshman stepping up and veterans buying in. Apparently, the Big West Conference office and coaches have been paying attention because the 49ers got their deserved credit on Monday.
Freshman Larry Anderson has been named first-team All-Big West, while senior Donovan Morris, junior Stephan Gilling and freshman T.J. Robinson all earned honorable mention All-Big West honors. Anderson was also named the Big West Freshman of the Year and is joined by Robinson and Casper Ware on the Big West All-Freshman Team.
Anderson becomes the first Long Beach State player since James Cotton in 1994 to win Freshman of the Year, and the first freshman to earn first-team all-league honors since Clifton Pondexter after the 1973-74 season. The Jordan Panther finished the regular season averaging 10.9 points, 4.0 rebounds and 2.7 assists per game, while averaging 14.4 points over the final 14 games. He scored in double digits 17 times, including nine of Long Beach State’s last 10 games. He also had three 20-point games, including a career-high 25 points at UC Riverside. Anderson finished Big West play 13th in scoring (12.3 ppg), fourth in field goal percentage (51.1 percent), and sixth in assists (3.19 apg) and assist-to-turnover ratio (1.31) in league games. For the season, he finished second in field goal percentage (55.0 percent) and seventh in assists (2.72 apg).
“Larry had a sensational year, and he’s so versatile” said Pacific coach Bob Thomason, whose Tigers could play Long Beach on Friday. “You just can’t stop one thing about him. For being a freshman, he’s tough, he can drive the basket, he shoots pretty good. I’m really impressed with him.”
LBSU coach Dan Monson had an interesting opinion on the award process when he talked to the media yesterday morning. “I’m excited for Larry. I’ve heard some of the other coaches talk and say that they think (UC Irvine, Eric) Wise deserves it. I think that part of that reason, and I think that’s something as coaches that we’ll have to talk about, part of that is that I think Freshman of the Year is different than an All-League player. I think Larry on the All-First team is a product of our team finishing 2nd in the league. You know, to the victor goes the spoils.”
Robinson finished the regular season averaging 11.0 points and 6.2 rebounds per game, while Ware finished the year averaging 9.1 points and 4.1 assists per game. Robinson leads the league in field goal percentage (55.0 percent), while ranking 14th in scoring and eighth in rebounding. In league games he was eighth in scoring (13.5 ppg) and second in rebounding (7.8 rpg), while leading the league in field goal percentage (62.3 percent).
Ware finished the regular season with 118 assists, a LBSU freshman record. He heads to the league tournament fourth in the league in both assists and assist-to-turnover ratio (1.49), while ranking second in assists (4.26 apg) and fifth in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.31) in league games.
Robinson also joined Morris and Gilling on the honorable mention all-league team. Morris, a first-team all-league pick as a junior, led The Beach in scoring (14.8 ppg) despite missing five games with an injury. He finished sixth in the league in scoring and third in free throw percentage (84.3 percent). Gilling finished second on the team in scoring (11.3 ppg) while making a team-high 83 3-pointers, the second most in school history. Gilling ranks second in the Big West in 3-pointers made per game in both overall games (2.86/game) and league games (2.94/game).