‘Eaters surge past Pacific

UCI men gamer vs. UOPUCI knocks off reigning Big West champion, 70-61, to improve to 4-0 in conference and now leads by 11/2 games.IRVINE -- Those curious as to the reason behind the UC Irvine men’s basketball team’s best Big West Conference start in four seasons, might want to consider the Anteaters’ propensity for a big finish.

UCI, which knocked off two-time defending conference champion Pacific, 70-61, Sunday to increase its Big West lead to 1 1/2 games over second-place Cal State Fullerton, continued its second-half success against conference competition to top the Tigers.

Strong performances after halftime have been a constant in four Big West games this season for Coach Pat Douglass’ squad (8-8, 4-0 in conference). And Sunday was no different.

The ‘Eaters missed their first six field-goal attempts to dig a 13-2 hole against Pacific (11-6, 2-2). UCI rallied to tie, then fell behind again, 26-18, before taking a 28-25 deficit into intermission.

But, true to UCI’s three previous Big West victories, the final 20 minutes featured Anteater ascendancy.

UCI, which made just 11 of 33 field-goal tries before halftime, shot 62.5% after the break (15 of 24). The ‘Eaters also connected on 7 of 12 three-point tries in the second half, after converting just 3 of 15 the first 20 minutes.

UCI, which has been outscored by seven combined points in four Big West games, is shooting 37.3% from the field (41 of 110) and 29.9% from three-point range (12 of 43) in the first half against conference foes.

But the Anteaters are shooting a combined 58.9% from the field (56 of 95) and 55.8% from beyond the arc (24 of 43) in the second half of those four games.

“I think its focus,” Douglass said of his team’s second-half surges. “We’ve had four good second halves.”

Douglass credited the play of reserves Adam Metelski, Adam Templeton and Dustin Price for part of Sunday’s post-halftime push.

Metelski, a 6-foot-10 senior, was 5 of 5 from the field in the second half to account for 10 of the bench’s 16 second-half points.

Templeton had a three-pointer in the second half to finish with five points, but it was his four second-half rebounds and his defense that earned praise from Douglass.

Price drained a three-pointer as the shot-clock buzzer was sounding with 1:44 left to give the ‘Eaters a 63-53 lead.

“Metelski, Templeton and Price, coming in with the defense, definitely gave us a lift,” Douglass said.

Another catalyst after halftime was senior point guard Aaron Fitzgerald, who produced all of his team-high 16 points after the break. Fitzgerald, who had 14 of his 16 points after halftime in Friday’s home win over Cal State Northridge, made three three-pointers in the final 20 minutes. He also had seven assists and, for a second straight contest, a mere three turnovers. He also collected six rebounds.

“I thought Aaron had a great second half,” Douglass said of the candidate for Player of the Week honors in the conference. “I thought he had a great weekend.”

Sophomore Patrick Sanders, who also had a big weekend, had 12 of his 15 points in the first half, including two three-pointers.

“We’re pleased that we’ve won our first four conference games,” said Douglass, whose 2002-03 team opened 6-0 in the Big West. “But we’re definitely not in the clouds, because we’ve got to go to [UC] Riverside on Thursday.”

Big West Conference

UC Irvine 70,

Pacific 61

Score by Halves