Men’s Basketball: On schedule

BREN EVENTS CENTER - When the game was on the line, Jordan Harris

and Jerry Green rarely missed.

Harris made 12 free throws of 12 attempts and Green made nine of 10

from the free-throw line to lead the Anteaters to an 81-56 victory over

Cal State Bakersfield in an exhibition game Saturday.

Green, who led the Big West Conference in free throw percentage last

season (123 made out of 144 attempts), scored 24 points to lead the

Anteaters.

Second in the scoring line for the Anteaters was Harris, who pitched

in with 21 points.

Cal State Bakersfield is a familiar opponent to UCI head coach Pat

Douglass. Douglass coached the Roadrunners for 10 seasons and led them to

three Division II national titles before taking the head coaching job at

UCI in 1997.

“I kept it more objective,” Douglass said. “We focused on what we had

to improve and what their strengths were. We wanted to see if we could

counter. I didn’t think emotionally about the game or anything, but I was

pleased that a number of people were able to come down to the game and

see where I coach.”

Douglass did admit that he knew what kind of style to expect from Cal

State Bakersfield. Henry Clark, the current Roadrunner head coach, was an

assistant under Douglass while he was at Bakersfield.

The Roadrunners held their own during the first few minutes of the

game, taking an 8-6 lead with 14:50 left in the first half. It would,

however, be the only time UCI would trail.

The Anteaters went on a 12-0 run to take an 18-11 lead and never looked back.

“We started moving the ball better, but most importantly Green turned

it up a bit,” Douglass said.

Green scored 21 points in the first half and the Anteaters made 75% of

their free throws (12-16).

Cal State Bakersfield’s Lemar Gayle made a three-pointer from about

half-court with one second left in the half to give the Roadrunners some

momentum emotionally, although they trailed, 37-25, at half.

It was the Anteaters who would come out strong in the second half

though. Harris made a slam dunk with an assist from Green to get the

crowd of some 2,000 roaring to highlight a 7-0 run to start the second

half.

UCI made 20 of 24 free throws to pull away from the Roadrunners on the

scoreboard.

Aras Baskauskas had nine rebounds and five assists and Dave Korfman

had nine points and six rebounds for the Anteaters.

“I thought (Baskauskas) showed us on the perimeter what he could do,”

Douglass said. “He had six rebounds at the half and played good defense.

He gave us the intensity we need to show and I really liked how he

stepped it up a bit.”

Douglass also said Korfman’s presence on the court made a sizable

difference in the game. The 7-2 senior was the tallest player in the

game.

“Our seniors have to step up, especially J.R. Christ and (Korfman)

because Adam Parada and Matt Okoro are sophomores,” Douglass said. “So

that maturity in games is important. (Korfman’s) presence inside --

that’s what we needed to see.”

Douglass said UCI’s defense was “more keen at some times than other

times.” The team had two blocks and 22 personal fouls.

Cal State Bakersfield piled up 29 personals in comparison. The

Roadrunners made 31.7% of their field goals in the game and were led in

points by Ramel Curry, who had 12. Gayle contributed with 11 points.

The Anteaters open the regular season Friday in a nonconference home

game against St. Mary’s.