Caffey energizes 49ers’ win

Long Beach State overcame an extended Caffey break to rally for an 88-82 victory over UC Irvine in the Big West Conference men’s basketball opener for both teams on Thursday at the Bren Events Center.

Senior Mike Caffey scored 19 points in the first 13:42 to pace the 49ers to a 29-19 advantage. But, the 6-foot guard went scoreless over the next 22:36 and the Anteaters surged to a seven-point lead that it held with 5:26 left.

But Caffey drained a pair of threes, as did senior guard McKay LaSalle down the stretch, to allow the visitors (7-10) to knock off the defending regular-season conference champions.

Caffey, who was seven for eight from the field in the first half, finished with a career-high 27 points to lead the winners, who came in having lost six of their previous seven games. Caffey, who was the focus of a diamond-and-one defensive scheme that held him without a shot for nearly 14 minutes, wound up nine for 12 from the field, including five for six from three-point range, to key the victory.

The 49ers netted 12 of their 24 three-point attempts, including five connections on nine attempts for LaSalle, who posted 16 points.

After Travis Souza sank three free throws resulting from a foul beyond the arc, UCI (7-8) led, 77-72, with 2:47 remaining. But the ‘Eaters went 1:50 without scoring and were plagued by turnovers and missed three-point shots the rest of the way to suffer only their second loss in their last three home games.

Junior guard Alex Young had a career-high 24 points to pace the hosts, who shot 53.6% from the field (30 for 56) and posted a 29-27 rebounding advantage. Young was four of seven from three-point range to finish eight for 13 from the field. He also made all four of his foul shots, as did Caffey.

“I think that because we had a lead, our level of focused intensity was not as high as it should have been,” UCI Coach Russell Turner said of the fateful finish. “We allowed their top three-point shooters to have open shots, and when they pressured us, we were careless with the ball on multiple possessions and turned it over to them without even getting a shot.”

A three-pointer by Young with 20 seconds left pulled UCI within 84-82, but Long Beach State sank four free throws in the final 11 seconds and was seven for eight from the foul line in the last 48 seconds to secure the victory.

Junior Will Davis had 14 points and was one of four Anteaters with a team-best four rebounds, while Souza had Aaron Wright each collected nine points and five assists, one more than Young registered.

But it was UCI’s failure to contain the 49ers, who shot 54.5% from the field, that proved costly.

“We have shown a surprising weakness with our man-to-man defense and that concerns me,” Turner said. “[Caffey] got off early and stayed hot when we initially went to a combination defense. We were trying to deny him the ball and we let him catch it. We let him catch it and he continued to make tough shots.

“He was clearly ready to play at a high level in this game. I didn’t think he would be able to sustain that for a full 40 minutes, and I think he went through a period of time where he was trying to regain the energy to finish. Clearly he did that by hitting those two threes coming down the stretch.”

The game, in front of an energized crowd of 2,963, featured eight lead changes and several momentum swings.

UCI posted a 27-14 advantage in bench scoring, but Long Beach State starters were a combined 26 for 42 from the field (61.9%).

Mamadou Ndiaye, UCI’s 7-6 sophomore center, returned after missing nine games with a foot injury, while UCI sophomore guard Luke Nelson missed his third straight game with fractured facial bones. Ndiaye had seven points and four rebounds in 17 minutes, making all three of his field-goal tries.

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Big West Conference

Long Beach State 88, UC Irvine 82

LBSU – Samuels 15, McKnight 6, Caffey 27, LaSalle 16, Jones 10, Lamb 6, Hammonds 5, Bibbins 3.

3-pt. goals – Caffey 5, LaSalle 5, Bibbins 1, Hammonds 1.

Fouled out – None.

Technicals – None.

UCI – Davis 13, Ryan 2, Young 27, Souza 9, Martin 4, Wright 9, Duning 7, Ndiaye 7, Dimakopoulos 2, Best 2.

3-pt goals – Young 4, Souza 2, Martin 1, Dunning 1, Wright 1.

Fouled out – None.

Technicals – Ndiaye 1.

Halftime – 40-38, UCI.