Men’s basketball: Anteaters rally

Amara Aguilar

BREN EVENTS CENTER -- Like so many games the UC Irvine men’s

basketball team has played at home this season, the Anteaters dug

themselves a hole Thursday night and then climbed right out of it. This

time, it happened against Cal State Fullerton.

UCI trailed by seven points with 8:37 left in the game, but rallied to

earn a 68-58 victory over the Titans in Big West Conference action.

The Anteaters were behind, 52-49, with six minutes left when sparks of

a comeback began to fly.

Adam Parada made two free throws and hit a two-pointer to put UCI

ahead, 53-52.

Mike Hood followed with a 15-foot jumper for the Anteaters (9-4, 2-0

in the Big West). The Titans answered with a two-pointer by Josh Fischer,

but Hood answered back with a key three-pointer to give the Anteaters a

58-54 advantage.

“It felt good and I was open and took the shot and it went in, luckily

it went in,” Hood said. “We gained a lot of momentum from that. It kind

of turned us around.”

Jordan Harris’ dunk followed Hood’s three-pointer to add an

exclamation point to the Anteaters comeback and put UCI ahead, 60-54,

with 1:03 left in the game.

“Jordan’s dunk helped out a lot and getting a few steals and turning

it around picked up the momentum for us,” Hood said.

The Anteaters sealed the win from the free-throw line, hitting eight

of 10 attempts. Harris made four free throws, senior guard Jerry Green

made three and Hood had one for UCI.

The Titans (3-9, 0-3) made two of four free-throw attempts and added

two points on a layup by Derick Andrew in the final minute before

suffering their fourth straight loss.

“They got hot and stuff like that,” Cal State Fullerton Coach Donny

Daniels said. “We still had a chance. They came down and hit foul shots.

We can’t hit foul shots. When you can’t hit foul shots and you make

mental mistakes on defense, you get beat.”

Green led UCI with 18 points, followed by Parada (15 points, four

rebounds) and Harris (14 points, 11 rebounds). Matt Okoro came off the

bench to pitch in with eight rebounds.

“(Okoro) was a key off the bench with eight rebounds late in the

game,” UCI Coach Pat Douglass said.

Although UCI was energized late in the game, the Titans were a serious

threat at times.

The Anteaters led by eight points three times in the first half and

took a 23-15 lead on a two-pointer by Green with 8:24 left in the first

half.

The Titans answered with a 12-3 run to take a 27-26 lead, but UCI

scored the last eight points of the first half to take a 34-29 lead at

halftime.

It didn’t last long. The Titans went on a 13-0 run early in the second

half to take a 46-39 lead with 13:58 left in the game.

“We are not a seasoned ball club,” Douglass said. “We showed that a

little bit tonight. That comes with experience.”

UCI did not regain the lead until Parada hit a two-pointer with 3:42

left to put the Anteaters ahead, 53-52.

The Titans were paced by Brandon Campbell (15 points), Kevin

Richardson (12 points) and Andrew (nine points).

Pape Sow, who took a team-leading 15.4 point per game average into the

contest against UCI, scored seven points and had nine rebounds for the

Titans.

Earlier this season, UCI overcame a seven-point deficit in the second

half against Long Beach for a 75-69 win and rallied from an 18-point

deficit with under 10 minutes left in the game against UC Davis to pull

out a 74-69 victory.

With the triumph over the Titans, UCI extends its school record

winning streak at home to 17.