LONG BEACH, Calif. - Casper Ware's 3-pointer with less than seven minutes left broke a 53-all tie and ignited a 7-0 run that carried Long Beach State past Idaho 69-61 on Saturday in the men's basketball season opener for both teams before a standing-room-only crowd of 4,348 at the Walter Pyramid.

Ware, last year's Big West Player of the Year, finished with 20 points for the 49ers. Larry Andersen added 16 points, including three 3-pointers, and seven assists for the 49ers. Eugene Phelps scored 11, and T.J. Robinson had 10 points to go along with 11 rebounds.

Guard Deremy Geiger put in 13 points for Idaho, and forward Djim Bandoumel came off the bench for 13 points and four rebounds. Center Kyle Barone had 11 points and nine rebounds.

"We played hard enough to win tonight," Idaho coach Don Verlin said. "I was very disappointed in our execution down the stretch. We just didn't make the plays that we needed to down the stretch. We've got to play that hard every night, but we've got to clear up some of those executional things, or it's going to be a long year."

Idaho led 29-27 at halftime, but Long Beach State went on an 8-0 run to take a 43-35 lead with 14:23 left. The Vandals got within two, 61-59, with 4:06 to play before a Phelps jumper and a Ware 3-pointer helped put the game out of reach.

After a Barone free throw tied the game at 53, the Vandals let Ware slip free for a corner 3-pointer, then gave up a dunk on the ensuing possession. A turnover on the next Idaho possession led to a Ware jumper and just like that, the Vandals were down, 60-53, with 5:38 left in the game.

The Vandals managed to scrap back within two points at 61-59 with 4:06 remaining, but gave up another 3-ball to Ware, a pair of short jumpers and wasn't able to convert on the offensive end in the closing minutes.

"We did a lot of good things, but our concentration on a few key items has to get better," Verlin said. "I thought we did a lot of really good things, but I was disappointed that we didn't execute with the game on the line."

Verlin praised the play of his bench, which outscored Long Beach State 22-6.

"Djim Bandoumel gave us a great lift - I thought he made a lot of big plays," Verlin said. "Matt Borton came in in the second half and gave us a huge lift. He made a couple baskets and had a couple assists, and I thought he played very well."

Idaho plays host to Concordia on Monday at Memorial Gym.

IDAHO (0-1)

Madison 4-10 0-0 9, Faines 0-1 0-0 0, Barone 5-8 1-3 11, Tatum 1-4 3-6 6, Geiger 4-8 3-4 13, Starke 1-4 0-0 2, Habeeb 0-3 0-0 0, McChristian 1-2 0-0 2, Bandoumel 5-6 3-3 13, Borton 2-2 0-0 5, Kammerer 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 23-48 10-16 61.

LONG BEACH ST. (1-0)

Phelps 4-9 3-4 11, Robinson 5-12 0-0 10, Ennis 3-9 0-1 6, Anderson 4-4 5-6 16, Ware 7-17 3-5 20, Pappageorge 0-1 0-0 0, Caffey 3-6 0-1 6, Jackson 0-1 0-0 0, Dervisevic 0-0 0-0 0, Starkey 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 26-60 11-17 69.

Halftime_Idaho 29-27. 3-Point Goals_Idaho 5-9 (Geiger 2-5, Tatum 1-1, Borton 1-1, Madison 1-2), Long Beach St. 6-20 (Anderson 3-3, Ware 3-9, Starkey 0-1, Pappageorge 0-1, Caffey 0-2, Ennis 0-4). Fouled Out_None. Rebounds_Idaho 31 (Barone 9), Long Beach St. 35 (Robinson 11). Assists_Idaho 12 (Geiger, Tatum 3), Long Beach St. 17 (Anderson 7). Total Fouls_Idaho 18, Long Beach St. 18. Technical_Bandoumel. A_4,348.