Anteaters Come Alive in Second Half to Run Over Siena, 87-70

It certainly wasn’t flawless and probably won’t elicit rave reviews, but as off-Broadway openers go, it was a nice little debut for UC Irvine.

The Anteaters, obviously suffering opening-game jitters, staggered and stumbled in the first half. But they regained poise after the intermission and put together a rousing finish for an 87-70 victory over Siena in the first round of the Joe Lapchick Memorial Tournament in front of 6,008 Friday at St. John’s Alumni Hall.

Senior point guard Raimonds Miglinieks, recognizing that his teammates were out of sync, abandoned his pass-first-shoot-second philosophy early and scored 20 first-half points as Irvine built a 40-33 halftime advantage. Miglinieks, third in the nation in assists last season, finished with a career-high 26 points and seven assists.

“Some point guards just score to score, but a really good point guard has the ability to assess a game and do what’s necessary to win,” Irvine Coach Rod Baker said. “He saw what needed to be done and just went ahead and did it.”

Siena guard Andy Theis made three three-pointers and scored 12 points during a two-minute stretch midway through the first half as the Saints pulled ahead, 23-19. But Miglinieks’ shooting and forward Michael Tate’s rebounding brought the Anteaters back.

“It was the first game of the season, and it is always a little hard to get started,” Miglinieks said. “I felt like I had to pick up the scoring. This was a very big game for us. It gives us confidence for [today].”

A 2-0 start might be a too-great expectation for the Anteaters, who meet the host Red Storm--an 88-72 winner over Niagara in Friday’s second game--at 1 p.m. today in the final.

St. John’s is 40-0 in the Lapchick tournament and has won 20 consecutive titles.

“There always is a first time,” Miglinieks said, smiling.

If the Anteaters play like they did during a four-minute span in the second half Friday, they might have a chance. Leading, 56-51, with 10 minutes 31 seconds to play, Irvine ran off 16 consecutive points that included four fast-break baskets, and was coasting, 72-51, with 6:28 remaining.

Siena turned the ball over eight times in the second half and a total of 12 times during the game. Irvine had only seven turnovers. The Anteaters also dominated the boards, outrebounding the Saints, 48-30, thanks in large part to the play of Tate, who has lost his starting job to Shaun Battle but not his knack for grabbing rebounds from much taller players.

“Michael came up so big for us,” Baker said. “He’s an impact player. Most people may think of an impact player as a guy who starts and scores a bunch, but sometimes he is a guy who comes in and changes the game.”

Tate, who had a career-high 14 rebounds and added 10 points, says he doesn’t mind his new role, “as long as we win.”

“Me and Coach Baker had a talk and he said he likes me coming off the bench and sparking the team,” Tate said. “I’m fine with that, and I think it kind of makes me want to play harder. My focus now is just come in and grab every rebound I can.”

The play of Miglinieks, Tate and sophomore guard Brian Keefe, who scored 17 points, compensated for the slow start of Brooklyn native Kevin Simmons, last season’s leading scorer and rebounder, who had trouble with nerves playing in front of the hometown folks. Simmons, who had only two points and one rebound at halftime, finally settled in and finished with 14 points and six rebounds.

“This was a really important win for us,” Tate said. “We’ve got almost everyone back from last year and we’re playing in a Big East tournament. We want to send a message back to the West Coast.”

If the Anteaters win today, that message will be as loud and clear as one of Tate’s signature screams when he grabs a big rebound.