The Long Beach State 49ers begin their conference season with a 2-0 record after defeating Cal Poly SLO on the road by a 69-53 score last night, behind 22 points and 9 rebounds from junior T.J. Robinson and stellar defense.

The 49ers held the Mustangs to just 39.0% shooting for the game and 21.1% from behind the three-point line. It was the second straight night that Long Beach held a high-scoring opponent to a poor shooting night as Shawn Lewis scored just 7 points on 3-15 shooting. Earlier this week, UC Santa Barbara guard and the conference’s leading scorer James Nunnally scored just 7 points on 1-11 shooting. Long Beach also dominated the glass, outrebounding Cal Poly 40-25.

“I was pleased with our focus and our maturity on the overall trip,” head coach Dan Monson said in a statement. “They are starting to learn, trust each other, and believe in what we are trying to do. We are headed in the right direction this week. To learn and be 2-0 is a good thing.”

Junior guard Larry Anderson followed up his 25-point performance at Santa Barbara with an 11-point effort at Cal Poly, playing 35 minutes in just his second game returning from a broken hand. Monson relied heavily on his five starters and gave significant minutes to only two players off the bench (forwards Tristan Wilson and Edis Dervisevic).

Long Beach jumps out to a quick undefeated record after the road swing and will return to the Pyramid next week to host Cal State Northridge and UC Irvine next week.