Mustangs end UCI season

Barry Faulkner

After the final buzzer sounded and he congratulated the victors, UC

Irvine senior Aras Baskasuskas shuffled, shoulders slumped, head

down, to the locker room. He moved slowly, as if delaying his arrival

would somehow defer the reality that the season, and the career of he

and four senior teammates, was over.

What began as a season of great promise, indeed, is history for

the Anteaters, after host Cal Poly San Luis Obispo earned a 70-62 Big

West Conference men’s basketball victory Saturday before a sellout

crowd of 3,032 at Mott Gymnasium.

The win lifted the Mustangs (11-15, 6-12 in conference) into an

eighth-place tie with UCI (11-17, 6-12) and Cal Poly, which by virtue

of sweeping a UC Riverside team that split with UCI, owned the

tiebreaker advantage to claim the final berth in the eight-team

conference tournament that begins next week at the Anaheim Convention

Center.

“It’s a terrible feeling of disappointment for everyone involved,”

said UCI sophomore Jeff Gloger, who did not start for only the second

time all season as Coach Pat Douglass tried to empower his top four

seniors by inserting them into the starting five.

“I told them, ‘OK, this is your shot,’ “Douglass said of seniors

Adam Parada, Stanislav Zuzak, Matt Okoro and Baskauskas, who joined

sophomore Ross Schraeder to open the game.

It was, however, Cal Poly seniors Varnie Dennis, Shane Schilling

and Eric Jackson, who were honored in pregame senior night

festivities, that provided the kind of veteran play that coaches

thoroughly appreciate.

Dennis amassed 27 points and eight rebounds, both game highs,

while Schilling added 14 points and seven boards and Jackson chipped

in eight points and five assists.

“I haven’t seen that kind of spring in Varnie’s step in awhile,”

said Cal Poly Coach Kevin Bromley, who has seen his 6-foot-8 post

limp through conference play with knee and ankle ailments.

“And I thought Shane played really hard. I’m happy for all my

kids, but it was a storybook night for the seniors.” Dennis,

Schilling and Jackson all received standing ovations as they exited

the game in the final seconds, while Irvine was left to ponder what

went wrong this season.

“What I can surmise about our season and what I can share with [a

reporter] are two different things,” said Douglass, who praised Cal

Poly’s intensity, effort and execution Saturday.

“Varnie played very well, they dominated us inside and we couldn’t

convert at our end,” Douglass said. “[Cal Poly’s play] is what you

want out of your seniors on senior night.” The Anteaters, who finish

1-11 on the road this season, including nine straight losses away

from home, used an 11-0 run to take a 30-27 lead with 2:38 left in

the first half.

But the hosts closed the half on a 7-0 run, to hold a 34-30

intermission advantage. The Mustangs then opened the second half with

a 7-2 spurt and when Dennis’ overhead left-handed hook banked in with

12:25 left in the game, he and Schilling had combined to produce 16

of the team’s first 17 second-half points (10 by Dennis) to widen the

led to 52-42.

UCI, led by Schraeder’s 18 points, including four three-pointers,

eventually closed to within 59-54 with 7:15 left. But the visitors

could not maintain any accuracy from three-point range (hitting just

3 of 12 three-point tries in the second half) to finish just 21 for

55 from the field (38.2%).

Cal Poly shot 49% from the field (25 of 51) and had just 12

turnovers to the Anteaters’ 17.

Schraeder also expounded on the disappointing season that followed

three consecutive 20-win campaigns. Those three seasons included two

regular-season conference titles and a runner-up finish in the Big

West.

“We had high expectations for this season, but we just didn’t get

it done. It’s really disappointing.”

ZOTS -- With seven rebounds Saturday, senior Adam Parada increased

his career total to 775. He moved past Mike Heckman (1966-69) into

sole possession of the No. 3 spot on the school’s career list. Parada

has 1,320 points to rank No. 8 in UCI annals and is the school’s

career leader in blocked shots with 149-plus ... Senior Stanislav

Zuzak finished his career with 108 three-pointers, the eighth most in

school history, and sophomore Jeff Gloger enters next season with 135

steals, 27 behind career leader Jerry Green (1998-2002) ... With 11

road losses this season, only the 1998-99 (13) and the 1996-97 (14)

UCI teams have lost more in a single season in the 27 seasons since

the school has competed in Division I ... UCI was denied its fifth

straight trip to the Big West Tournament ... UCI Coach Pat Douglass

completed his third losing season in 23 seasons as a four-year head

coach. He is now 106-94 in seven seasons at the Anteaters’ helm...

UCI’s average home attendance this season in 11 games was 2,768,

fourth best in the conference and an increase from last year’s 2,596

average in nine home games... UCI’s six home wins this season tied

the fewest in Douglass’ tenure (matching the 1998-99 team) ... UC

Santa Barbara Coach Bob Williams said after the Gauchos’ win Thursday

over UCI he believed there were “three surprising teams in the Big

West this season: [University of the] Pacific with where it is [tied

for first place heading into Saturday], UCI and us. And UCI and us

are the opposite surprise from UOP ... Saturday’s starting five of

Parada, Zuzak, Matt Okoro, Aras Baskauskas and Ross Schraeder was the

‘Eaters’ 11th different lineup this season.

*--*

Big West Conference

Cal Poly SLO 70, UC Irvine 62

UC Irvine - Zuzak 5, Okoro 8, Parada 12, Schraeder 19, Baskauskas 0, Gloger 5, Campbell 5, Ethington 8. 3-pt. goals - Schraeder 4, Gloger 1, Campbell 1. Fouled out - Schraeder. Technicals - None. Cal Poly SLO - Schilling 14, Enzweiler 11, Dennis 27,

Gray 9, Jackson 8, Manley 1. 3-pt. goal - Gray 2, Dennis 1, Schilling 1, Enzweiler 1. Fouled out - None. Technicals - None. Halftime - Cal Poly SLO, 34-30.

*--*