Anteaters fall short on road

NORTHRIDGE — The UC Irvine men’s basketball team went from freefall to free-wheeling when it first incurred, then erased an 18-point deficit at Cal State Northridge Thursday night.

But the Anteaters, who have yet to win a game on an opponent’s floor this season, could not survive a frenetic finish, as the Matadors claimed a 67-61 Big West Conference victory.

“We fought back, we just couldn’t put the hammer down and finish it,” said UCI Coach Pat Douglass, whose team fell to 7-10, 1-2 in the Big West. The Anteaters are now 1-9 away from the Bren Events Center and last won a road game Nov. 11, when they topped Winston-Salem State in a tournament at Fresno State.

The Anteaters committed about a third of their 19 turnovers during a disastrous start to the second half, as Northridge (8-7, 2-2) scored the first 12 points after intermission to take a 41-27 advantage.

The Matadors continued the onslaught to build a 47-29 bulge, before UCI snapped out of its funk.

UCI received points from five players during a 16-0 run that pulled it within 47-45 with 9:50 left in the game.

Then, after Northridge’s Rai Colston sank a fadeaway three-pointer with 8:35 left, UCI scored six straight points to take a 51-50 advantage.

UCI junior Patrick Sanders, who has been scuffling of late, converted back-to-back buckets to cap the aforementioned run. After missing all three of his first-half field-goal attempts, he was four for five after intermission on his way to eight points. He also led the team with six rebounds and two blocked shots and his three assists were tied for the team lead.

“Patrick is going to have to produce for us, so we told him to keep attacking,” Douglass said.

The Anteaters, to a man, were in full attack mode after going down 18, showing collective character when it appeared they would give the Matadors’ first home crowd in nearly a month a reward for their attendance.

Two free throws by Marcus McIntosh, who provided some energetic defense, as well as five points, four rebounds and two assists off the bench, put the visitors on top, 53-51, with 5:33 left.

Northridge went on an 11-0 run, capped by Rob Haynes’ three-pointer from the right corner to take a 63-52 edge.

But UCI had another comeback in it.

Adam Templeton scored on a putback and, after Chuma Awaji sank a layup, Templeton connected from three-point range to make it 62-60 with 58 seconds remaining.

After Darren Fells rebounded a Northridge miss, UCI had a chance to tie or take the lead, but 5-foot-10 freshman point guard Michael Hunter tried to penetrate the lane, only to see his fading runner blocked and rebounded by the Matadors.

Calvin Chitwood was fouled on Northridge’s subsequent possession and made both ends of a one-and-one situation with 26 seconds left.

McIntosh made a free throw with 17 seconds left, but Northridge scored the final three points of the game from the foul line to clinch the win.

Fells, back in the starting lineup, led UCI with 11 points and added five rebounds.

UCI shot 45.3% for the game, to Northridge’s 40%, but the Matadors made five of nine three-pointers, while UCI was just 3 of 16 from threedom (18.8%).

“The way Irvine plays, we knew it was going to be a grind-it-out game, full of runs and streaks,” Northridge junior Jonathan Heard said. “This was a complete defensive win for us.”

Haynes led three Matadors in double figures with 16 points.

He was five of six from the field and four of four from the foul line.

Big West ConferenceUC Irvine -- Fells 11, Sanders 8, Awaji 8, Templeton 8, Hunter 7, Campbell 6, Kelley 6, McIntosh 5, DeCasas 2.

Cal State Northridge 67,

UC Irvine 61

3-pt. goals -- Templeton 2, Hunter 1

Fouled out -- None.

Technicals -- Team.

Cal State Northridge -- Haynes 16, Heard 14, Colston 11, Shewmake 6, Jones 6, Hill 5, Chitwood 4, Miller 3, Powers 2.

3-pt. goals -- Haynes 2, Colston 2, Shewmake 1.

Fouled out -- None.

Technicals -- None.

Halftime -- 29-27, Cal State Northridge.