‘Eaters outdo Tigers, 57-55

Barry Faulkner

UC Irvine guard Aras Bakauskas called it getting off the schneid.

The fifth-year senior was referring to his own early-season

scoring drought, but he could also have been describing the

Anteaters’ collective satisfaction with their dramatic 57-55 men’s

basketball win over Princeton in the opening game of the McCaffrey

Classic Friday at Fresno State’s Save Mart Center.

The victory, sparked largely by the contributions off the bench by

Baskausas and 6-foot-8 junior Greg Ethington, halted a two-game UCI

losing streak. The manner in which the Anteaters (3-3) rallied also

may do much to fortify Coach Pat Douglass’ squad, which Baskauskas

said is still trying to establish its identity.

“This was a big win for us,” Baskauskas said. “Not only for our

record, but the way we won the game, by gutting it out.”

Adam Parada, with a deft feed from slashing sophomore guard Mike

Efevberha, converted a layin with two seconds left for the

game-winner, capping a comeback from a 43-35 deficit with 11:14 left

in the game.

“That was exactly what coach drew up,” Bakauskas said of the

winning bucket, a play that began with 5.5 seconds left on a side out

of bounds. Stanislav Zuzak inbounded the ball to Efevberha curling

near the top of the key and the 6-5 guard, who scored 10 of his

season-high 12 points in the second half, penetrated into the paint,

before finding the 7-0 senior center. Parada flicked the ball over

his right shoulder into the basket to hand Princeton its first loss

in four games this season.

“We have some different options on that play,” Douglass said of

the scheme he set up during a timeout, after Baskauskas rebounded a

missed three-pointer by Tiger guard Scott Greenman -- who was 4 of 4

from three-point range and 5 of 5 from the field to that point.

“[Efevberha] is one of those options and Adam cutting down the middle

is another.”

Parada’s clutch conversion helped negate his three missed free

throws in the final moments, which helped keep the Tigers within

striking range.

Princeton, which converted 11 of its 29 three-point attempts,

netted a trio of threes early in the second half, on the way to

turning a 27-26 halftime deficit into a 39-32 edge with 15:26 left in

the game.

The Princeton lead was 43-35 when Baskauskas, 0 for 5 from the

field in the first five games, hit his second 18-footer of the night

while being fouled. Baskauskas converted the free throw for the first

of three UCI traditional three-point plays that keyed an 11-0 burst

and earned the designated visitors a 46-43 advantage.

A Greenman three ball ended the run and Greenman connected again

from beyond the arc with 2:44 left to pull the Tigers within 52-51.

Efevberha, who has struggled finding his scoring touch in the

regular season after amassing 41 points in two exhibition games,

scored on a six-foot step-through, but Greenman picked off a pass and

went for a layup to shave the lead back to one.

After Parada, who was 4 for 4 from the field, but made just 1 of 4

foul shots, sank the first of two free throws, Princeton junior

leading scorer Judson Wallace drained a pair from the line to forge a

55-55 deadlock with 1:08 left.

Parada missed a pair of free throws with 49 seconds left, but

Ethington, matched in man-to-man defense on Wallace, forced him to

pass up two would-be baseline shots, resulting in the reversal of the

ball to Greenman all alone in the right corner.

His shot, however, bounded off the rim and Baskauskas secured the

rebound to set up the game-winner.

Zuzak added 12 points to match Efevberha for team-high honors,

while Parada finished with nine and sophomore point guard Jeff Gloger

eight.

Gloger also earned praise from Douglass for his team-high six

rebounds and his lone turnover helped the Anteaters, who had averaged

19 turnovers in its worst start since 1998-99, win the battle of

miscues, 10-11.

“I thought Aras Baskauskas gave us some real good defense,”

Douglass said. “And Ethington [five points, three rebounds and a key

block in 10 minutes] played with some intensity.” Baskauskas said he

was just happy to chip in.

“When I come in off the bench, I want to help us any way I can,

whether that’s scoring or not,” Baskauskas said. “It was nice to hit

my two shots tonight. I’m not the most talented guy on the team.”

Wallace, averaging 25 points coming in, settled for 13, while

Greenman collected a game-high 14.

UCI’s defense helped Princeton shoot just 44.2% from the field (19

of 43), after it came in converting 56.3%.

The Anteaters, meanwhile, converted 22 of 41 (53.7%).

ZOTS -- UC Irvine concludes to two-day tournament tonight at 5:30

against Division II Arkansas-Monticello, which entered Friday’s game

against host Fresno State with a 4-2 record ... The matchup pits the

Anteaters against the Boll Weevils ... Princeton, which along with

Vanderbilt and UNLV are the only three schools to sink a

three-pointer in each of their games since the arc was established

for the 1986-87 season, needed just 31 seconds to extend its streak

to 470 games ... UCI’s win Friday earned Jeff Gloger family bragging

rights with older brother Spencer, who led the Tigers in scoring as a

senior last season with 15.7 ppg.

*--*

McCaffrey Classic

UC Irvine 57, Princeton 55

UC Irvine - Zuzak 12, Okoro 4, Parada 9, Efevberha 12, Gloger 8, Baskauskas 5, Ethington 5, Schrader 2. 3-pt. goals - Zuzak 1, Efevberha 1, Ethington 1. Fouled out - None. Technicals - None. Princeton - Wallace 13, Wysocki 6, Greenman 14, Persia 5,

Venable 6, Owings 7, Stephens 4. 3-pt. goals - Greenman 4, Wallace 2, Wysocki 2, Persia 1, Venable 1, Owings 1. Fouled out - None. Technicals - None.

*--*