‘Eaters edge Lancers

IRVINE — Typically, exhibition games allow the home team to show off its walk-on’s latest move. Instead the host UC Irvine men’s basketball team was forced to exhibit plenty of character to rally for a 73-71 victory over NAIA representative Cal Baptist Tuesday night at Crawford Court.

The Lancers, picked to finish fifth in the Golden State Athletic Conference in the coaches’ preseason poll, went on a 21-2 run spanning just more than eight minutes of the first half to turn a 26-15 deficit into a 36-28 advantage, before UCI reserve Marcus McIntosh made a 12-foot baseline jumper at the first-half buzzer to close the Anteaters within 36-30.

UCI, with a revamped starting lineup that included only two players who started the game, scored the first four points after intermission, but were down, 49-36, with 14:39 left in the game.

After senior guard Chuma Awaji made a transition layup, senior forward Patrick Sanders scored 10 straight points to fuel a 15-2 UCI run that created a 53-51 lead for the team picked to finish fifth in the Big West Conference coaches’ preseason poll.

The two teams were deadlocked before an Adam Rodenberg layin, and back-to-back three-pointers by newcomers Trey Harris and Brett Lauer helped put the ’Eaters up, 63-55.

But still, the Lancers weren’t willing to go away. They whittled to within 70-69 on an eight-foot runner by reserve guard Andre Borrows with 1:20 left.

After a timeout, Sanders converted a Harris assist into a layup with 49 seconds remaining.

After Carl Ross completed an alley-oop slam dunk for Cal Baptist with 36 seconds remaining, the Lancers and Coach Tim Collins, with only a fraction of a second differential in the 30-second shot clock and the game clock, let precious time tick away, before fouling Lauer with seven seconds left.

Lauer made the second of the double-bonus free-throws, but Cal Baptist point guard Marquis Kennedy was called for traveling with three-tenths of a second left, after the Lancers brought the ball to the frontcourt with a chance to tie.

UCI inbounded and exhaled, avoiding what may have been an embarrassing first step.

But Coach Pat Douglass said he wasn’t disappointed that the game went down do to the wire.

“They have a good program and a good group of athletes,” Douglass said of the Lancers. “We got up [in the first half], then we started going in different directions. But, in the second half, we went longer stretches of doing what the coaches wanted [the players] to do.

“When we got down [in the second half], we could have chalked it up to experience. But we battled back and had some good moments. It’s early.”

Sanders finished with a team-high 18 points, followed by 16 from Rodenburg. They shared the team rebounding lead (five) with Kevin Bland, who scored five points and was limited to 16 minutes by foul trouble.

Awaji (12 points, including two three-pointers), Brett Lauer (four points and a team-high five assists), helped UCI, which played 12 of its 13 available players, prevail, instead of prance.

“We were trying to win the ballgame,” Douglass said. “It wasn’t one of these games where we were trying to play everybody and let’s see what happens. We were competing and they were competing, and we were trying to find combinations that could be effective for us.”

UCI, playing without 6-foot-7 senior center Darren Fells (sidelined indefinitely for personal misconduct), lost the rebounding battle, 36-29, but had eight fewer turnovers than the Lancers, who committed 19.

UCI shot 44.3% for the game (27 of 61), but were 15 of 30 after halftime.

Cal Baptist shot 50% for the game, led by spindly 6-7, 195-pound junior forward Matt Gonzales, who was eight for 10 from the field and finished with 22 points and 12 rebounds.

Exhibition UC Irvine 73, Cal Baptist 71

CB – Gonzales 22, Shaheed 7, Ross 9, Kennedy 7, Cernin 6, Borrows 12, Menjivar 4, Hopkins 4.

3-pt. goals – Gonzales 3, Borrows 2, Cernin 2.

Fouled out - None.

Technicals – Coach Collins 1

UCI – Sanders 18, Rodenberg 16, Bland 5, DeCasas 9, Awaji 12, Lauer 4, Harris 3, McIntosh 2, Johnson 2, Ballard 2.

3-pt. goals – Awaji 2, Rodenberg 1, Sanders 1, Bland 1, Lauer 1, Harris 1.

Fouled out - None.

Technicals - None.

Halftime – Cal Bapt., 36-30.

BARRY FAULKNER may be reached at (714) 966-4615 or at barry.faulkner@latimes.com.