UCI looks to Sanders

IRVINE — Taking a lesson from the opponent, the UC Irvine men’s basketball team let its leading scorer carry the load when it counted most Thursday night against Big West Conference visitor Long Beach State.

The result was a Patrick Sanders-led 64-57 triumph before 1,642 at the Bren Events Center that helped the Anteaters (13-14, 7-6 in conference) remain in fifth place, with three regular-season conference games left.

Sanders, a 6-foot-6 senior who came in averaging a team-best 15.3 points per game, scored his team’s final 11, beginning with a three-pointer with 4:02 left that put the ’Eaters on top, 56-55. UCI, in a game that featured six ties and four lead changes, never trailed again.

Sanders, who hit his first four field-goal tries and was five for eight from the field in the opening 29 minutes, missed only one shot from the field in the final 12:17 on his way to 24 points on nine-of-15 shooting for the game.

With UCI up, 58-57, Sanders cashed in an isolation play on the left side of the 49ers defense, backing in and nailing a 12-foot turnaround jumper from the baseline with 49 seconds left.

With Long Beach failing to get the ball to junior guard Donovan Morris, who came in leading the Big West in scoring at 20.8 points per game, UCI maintained its lead.

Sanders then insured the hosts their 10th win without a loss in games played on campus this season by netting four of four foul shots in the final 16 seconds to give Long Beach State (6-21, 3-10) its fourth straight setback.

“[Sanders] took over down the stretch, and those were two big free throws he made [with 16.7 seconds left to put the Anteaters up, 62-57],” UCI Coach Pat Douglass said.

There were other key stanzas for UCI, particularly in the second half.

Trailing, 38-30, with 14:30 left, a three-pointer by Michael Hunter sparked a 10-0 UCI run that included a three-point bank shot by junior Kevin Bland.

A layup by Long Beach State junior Cornel Williams, who finished with a career-high 19 points and a game-high 11 rebounds, broke the drought for the 49ers and tied the score at 40.

But Bland, who was three for four from the field and matched Fells with a team-high seven rebounds, drove the left side and dunked to give UCI a 42-40 edge and energize the UCI rooters.

Junior guard Brett Lauer followed with a three-pointer for the hosts, but Morris, perhaps an overlooked talent on the West Coast (the Fresno State transfer has scored at least 30 points in four games and he seldom comes out of a game) kept bombing away to bring the 49ers back.

“Donovan got red hot and he was carrying them,” Sanders said, “I thought our defense was good; they were just knocking down the threes. Donovan is a really good player.”

Morris made back-to-back threes, the second with 4:24 left to give Long Beach a 55-53 edge.

But the 49ers managed only two points the rest of the way, a layin by sophomore Arturas Lazdauskas, and UCI was able to remain in fifth place, 1 1/2 games behind fourth-place Pacific.

Hunter, who made two of three three-point tries after halftime to finish six of 11 from the field, finished with 15 points, one assist and just one turnover in 34 minutes. His night ended prematurely when he was involved in a collision with a 49er while going for a loose ball with about 24 seconds left. Hunter was helped off the floor favoring his left leg and later said he felt soreness in his left groin area.

Hunter said he believes he will be able to play Saturday, when the Anteaters play host to first-place Cal State Northridge.

“That’s a really big game,” Sanders said of Saturday. “We got the champs coming in here and we played them a tough game at their place [a 69-64 loss on Jan. 31]. We’re going to be fired-up and ready to go.”

UCI committed a season-low five turnovers, while forcing 12 and the Anteaters earned a 27-25 rebounding edge.

Fells finished with nine points, seven rebounds and five assists for the winners.

Big West Conference

UC Irvine 64, Long Beach State 57

LB – Williams 19, Lazdauskas 4, Morris 25, Plater 7, Clady 0, Gallow 2.

3-pt. goals – Morris 5, Plater 1, Williams 1.

Fouled out – Lazdauskas.

Tecnicals – None.

UCI – Sanders 23, DeCasas 1, Fells 9, Hunter 15, McIntosh 4, Bland 7, Lauer 3, Ballard 2.

3-pt. goals – Hunter 3, Sanders 1, Lauer 1, Bland 1.

Fouled out – None.

Technicals – None.

Halftime – LB, 24-22.

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