Colleges column: Postseason aplenty

Amara Aguilar

Some people say No. 7 is lucky.

For the UC Irvine men’s basketball team, it seems to be anything but.

The Anteaters, seeded No. 2 in the Big West Tournament, will face a

formidable foe in No. 7 Long Beach State in the first round of the

tournament Thursday at 6 p.m. at the Anaheim Convention Center Arena.

Don’t let the seedings fool you. Even though the 49ers finished the

regular season 13-16, 9-9 in conference, the squad is blazing hot after

winning five straight games to end the regular season. The streak

includes an 86-70 victory over visiting UCI (20-9, 13-5) Thursday. The

loss for the Anteaters cost them a shot at a No. 1 seed and eventually

sole possession of the Big West Conference title.

Conference leading Utah State (21-6, 13-5) dropped its final two games

of the regular season, including a 62-54 loss at Cal State Northridge

Saturday, to hand UCI a share of the conference title.

“We’re not trying to play a spoiler role,” Long Beach Coach Wayne

Morgan said. “We’re just trying to do what we’ve been doing all year,

which is to play as hard as we can. It has taken us a long time to get on

track and we’ve had to make a lot of adjustments, after losing guys to

injuries. A lot of people buried us and tried to put us away. But we’re

still here.”

During their season-ending spurt, the 49ers also posted wins over UC

Santa Barbara, University of the Pacific, Cal State Northridge and Cal

Poly, seeded Nos. 3-6, respectively, in the tournament.

In Thursday’s game against UCI, Long Beach took a 22-9 lead in the

first seven minutes, but the Anteaters rallied to cut the 49ers’

advantage to 40-39 at halftime.

“They were very aggressive, created an up tempo and sustained it

longer than I’d seen them from watching tape,” UCI Coach Pat Douglass

said. “We talked at halftime about the key being the first five minutes

of the second half. Then they got all the loose balls and got the lead

back to 11.”

Junior forward Jordan Harris stepped up with 29 points in the game and

senior standout guard Jerry Green, who will most likely be named Big West

Player of the Year for the second straight time when the all-conference

teams are announced today, added 25 points.

Other than that, UCI didn’t get much scoring.

Starting sophomore center Adam Parada managed only six points, half

his average, in 22 minutes.

Mike Hood, a junior guard who usually starts, had only one point in 23

minutes off the bench. He was 0 for 7 from the field, including 0 for 5

from three-point range.

Sophomore forward Stanislav Zuzak, another player who has been dropped

from the starting lineup, had four points in 15 minutes while senior

reserve J.R. Christ scored three points in 16 minutes.

Everyone will need to step it up Thursday for the Anteaters to have a

chance at winning the conference tournament and earning an automatic

berth into the NCAA Tournament. In addition, UCI will obviously have to

improve on its 39.1% field-goal shooting against Long Beach.

Entering the contest, UCI was ranked No. 1 in the Big West in

field-goal percentage at 48.0%. The Anteaters can’t afford to miss

against the 49ers. It could cost them everything they’ve been working for

all season.

In the first round of the men’s basketball Big West Tournament, No. 4

Pacific takes on No. 5 Cal State Northridge at noon Thursday at the

Anaheim Convention Center Arena. No. 1 Utah State plays No. 8 Idaho 30

minutes after the Pacific-Northridge contest. UCI plays at 6 p.m.,

followed by a matchup between No. 3 UC Santa Barbara and No. 6 Cal Poly.

If the Anteaters win against Long Beach, they will play the winner of

the Santa Barbara-Cal Poly game Friday.

Even though the Vanguard University women’s basketball team lost to

No.2-seeded Azusa Pacific in the Golden State Athletic Conference

Tournament semifinals Saturday, the Lions had a successful run this

season and fought hard all the way.

Before falling in triple overtime, 87-83, to Azusa, No. 3-seeded

Vanguard earned a 69-65 first-round win over No. 6 Westmont Thursday.

Freshman Lacey Mills and senior Beth Weidler each scored 14 points to

lead the Lions (17-11) against the Warriors.

“(Mills) made some big threes with over a minute to go,” Vanguard

Coach Russ Davis said. “She made some big shots. She’s been playing well

lately. She’s a great shooter who is starting to get into a rhythm.”

The Lions had some rhythm of their own at the close of the season,

winning seven of their last 10 games.

“We were happy we won (against Westmont),” Davis said. “It’s hard to

beat a good team three times in one season and we did it.”

Seniors Kelly Boeke, Weidler and Erin Edmiston played their last game

with the Lions Saturday.

Boeke was recently named to the All-GSAC. The four-year starter led

the Lions in scoring (13.1 points per game) this season and leaves as the

school’s career leader in scoring (1,594) and rebounds (1,019).

Boeke was also named to the GSAC all-academic team in addition to

Courtney McKinney, Robbin Dittenbir, Edmiston, Weidler, Paulette Seaman

and senior Jessica Lenderman, who led the pack with a 4.0 GPA.

Lenderman has decided to take advantage of her last year of

eligibility to play another year with the Lions. Her younger sister,

Crystal Lenderman, will join the team as a freshman next season.

The Vanguard men’s basketball team also had its season come to end

Thursday with a 62-53 loss to host Westmont in the first round of the

GSAC Tournament.

It was the last game for Vanguard seniors Ian Boys, Garid Beeler and

Joe Cocca.

Although the score doesn’t look like things were that close, Vanguard

gave its best shot considering it was without its top two players,

seniors Shane McKim and Damion Morbley. The two players quit the team

last week before the tournament.

To leave a team hanging like that shows a lack of character and

commitment no matter what the circumstances were. What McKim and Morbley,

an all-conference selection, did to their team is inexcusable. Hopefully

the Lions can make a fresh start next season.

The UCI women’s basketball team, seeded No. 7, will take on No. 2 UC

Riverside in a 2:30 p.m. first-round Big West Tournament contest

Wednesday at the Anaheim Convention Center Arena.

The Anteaters (8-19, 5-11) lost to the Highlanders, 77-44 and 71-69,

during the regular season.

Riverside (15-12, 12-4) will be making the school’s first appearance

in the tournament.