The Long Beach State men’s basketball team ended their three-game tournament in the U.S. Virgin Islands with an important victory over a power conference team in Iowa on Monday, in one of the biggest wins since head coach Dan Monson took over in 2007.

All five starters scored in double figures for Long Beach, and though they shot just 40.3% from the field benefited from extra possessions thanks to out-rebounding Iowa 39-29 on the glass.

Senior guard Greg Plater made four 3-pointers in the second half alone and lead the team with 18 points, while junior forward T.J. Robinson scored 14 and added 15 rebounds, while point guard Casper Ware added 14 and 8 assists.

The score stayed tight into the second half when Ware found Robinson for a lay-up that gave Long Beach a 46-45 lead with 13:05 to play. Just five seconds later, Plater canned a three-pointer and the 49ers would not relinquish the lead. Ware hit a pair of free throws with four second remaining to seal the victory.

With the win, the 49ers finished fourth overall in the Paradise Jam Classic after losing to Clemson and beating St. Peters over the weekend. Beating Iowa is almost certainly one of the program’s best wins in years, along with victories over UCLA and Utah State last year, and over Temple in 2008.

With a chance to win, Monson rode his starters from start to finish. Only Eugene Phelps played fewer than 30 minutes (29), and only three players came off the bench to play. Surprisingly, neither junior Edis Dervisevic nor senior Tristan Wilson saw action, though both were believed to have been Monson’s go-to substitutes.

Instead, sophomore Kyle Richardson scored 4 points and grabbed 5 rebounds in 15 minutes of play, while Corey Jackson played briefly at shooting guard and Jerramy King at point guard.

Bryce Cartwright led Iowa off the bench with 17 points, and guard Eric May had 15. No other Hawkeyes scored in double figures.

We’ll have much more on this game shortly.