Men’s basketball: UCI rallies

Amara Aguilar

BREN EVENTS CENTER - Down by five at half. No biggie.

Down by 14 three minutes into the second half. Not a problem.

Down by 18 with under 10 minutes left in the game and it gets

interesting.

Just when it seemed the men’s basketball team would fall, it pulled

together and stood tall, withstanding visiting UC Davis’ triple threat to

earn a 74-69 nonconference victory Saturday.

The Aggies (2-2) made a season-high 14 three-pointers, including 10 in

the first half, to help build a 67-49 lead with under 10 minutes left in

the game.

UCI (5-2) responded with a 20-2 run to tie the score at 69 with 53

seconds left in the game.

Jerry Green grabbed a loose ball in midcourt and raced down for a dunk

to give the Anteaters their first lead of the half with 44 seconds left.

He then made three straight free throws to secure the victory.

“We broke their rythym a bit in the second half and were able to

capitalize,” UCI Coach Pat Douglass said.

The team also changed its defense. The Aggies walked all over the

Anteaters in the first half, making 71% of their three-pointers, going on

a 17-0 run and leading by as many as 12 points.

“We knew coming in that they were a small lineup, but we never thought

they’d make 71% of their threes in the first half. That really put us in

a bind,” Douglass said.

Something had to change for UCI, and fast. The Anteaters switched to a

zone defense, and it seemed to make a difference late in the game.

“We shot the ball real well early in the game and (the Anteaters)

changed their defense late in the game and that was the difference,” UC

Davis Coach Brian Fogle said.

“The only advantage we had was that our big kids can shoot the ball,

so we had to make their big kids chase us and they didn’t want to do

that,” Fogle said. “They made a real good adjustment and kept their

gaurds out there and shots became harder to take and harder to make (in

the second half).”

UC Davis made 10 of 26 (38.5%) field goals in the second half and four

of 12 (33.3%) of their three-pointers.

Although the Aggies led at halftime, 44-39, UCI did take a 10-point

lead with 15 minutes left in the half.

The Aggies came out strong in the second, with two three-pointers by

Brent Wyse and Tyler Boyd.

Wyse made a season-high six of eight three-pointers and had a

team-leading 20 points and eight rebounds.

UCI had its own three-point power shooter in 6-foot-10 Stanislav

Zuzak, who made five of six. He also chipped in with 21 points and 12

rebounds.

Adam Parada, a 7-0 center, scored 20 points and grabbed 10 rebounds.

Green led the Anteaters with 24 points. He was also eight of 11 from the

free-throw line.