Anteaters withstand late surge

RIVERSIDE — Pat Douglass figured it would be his UC Irvine men’s basketball team that would have the most difficulty matching up against host UC Riverside Thursday night.

But, as it turned out, the Anteaters’ inside-out game, accentuated by opportune three-point shooting and a flawless inside performance by senior Kevin Bland, proved too much for the more physically imposing Highlanders to handle.

The result was a 71-66 UCI win that Douglass said was the most opportune accomplishment of the night.

Bland made all eight of his field-goal attempts en route to 17 points, and added a team-high nine rebounds to help UCI improve to 7-13, 4-3 in conference.

Junior guard Michael Hunter led the way with 19 points, including back-to-back three-pointers that virtually iced the game in just more than the final two minutes.

Hunter’s three-pointer with 2:12 left erased a 64-63 deficit. Then, after Hunter made a steal, he connected from the top of the key to up the lead to 69-64, with 1:25 remaining.

Riverside (11-8, 3-4), which rallied from a 49-33 deficit with 15:53 left to take a 62-60 lead with 3:56 remaining, had the ball with 27 seconds left down, 69-66.

But a layup by junior USC transfer Kyle Austin, who led all scores with 21 points, missed with 13 seconds left. The rebound caromed out to Riverside’s Jesse LoBue (who had 11 of his 13 points after halftime to aid the rally), but LoBue’s quick three ball missed badly and Bland snagged the rebound.

UCI used separate first-half runs of 14-6, 10-0 and 10-3 to seize not only a 39-30 advantage, but also take some of the thunder from a season-high Riverside crowd of 1,010 at the Student Recreation Center.

“We were well down in the first half, in a lot of ways,” Riverside Coach Jim Wooldridge said. “I think we lost the game in the first half, when we gave them all the confidence in the world. We just didn’t have any ability to stop them.

“Then, they came out and kicked us again [to start] the second half.”

Brett Lauer netted a three-pointer to give the ’Eaters a 5-0 burst after intermission and Derrick Strings, who started in place of Adam Folker to help provide more quickness, sank a three-pointer with 15:53 left to cap a 10-3 second-half start and produce the aforementioned 16-point lead.

But Riverside, which knocked off conference-leading Long Beach State on the road Saturday, had plenty of punch left.

Javon Borum made a 12-foot baseline jumper to knot the score at 60 with 5:00 remaining and Austin scored from 15 feet out on the right wing with 3:56 left to give the Highlanders a 62-60 edge, their first lead since 20-19.

But Irvine, which produced its last four field goals from beyond the three-point line, held strong.

“We didn’t wilt when they came back at us,” Douglass said. “We put as many minutes together as we have all year. We made some big threes and I thought Kevin Bland probably played one of his better ballgames in our last 10 or 20 games.

“It was a great team effort and an opportune time for us to come on the road and get a win in the middle of league … It’s very uplifting.”

UCI shot 55.1% from the field (27 of 49) and sank 11 of 25 from threedom. UCI made half of its 12 second-half three-point tries.

Lauer added 12 points, while Eric Wise and Strings had eight apiece for the winners.

“It’s a huge win for us,” Hunter said. “They had size at every position, but we had quickness.”

Said Wooldridge: “Hunter’s two threes were huge plays and he made them. We couldn’t stop them. We did come back and made some plays, but we had so much to overcome, we couldn’t get it done.”

Riverside shot 51% from the field, and won the rebounding (27-24) and turnover battles (10 to UCI’s 11).

Big West Conference

UC Irvine 71, UC Riverside 66

UCI – Bland 17, Wise 8, Hunter 19 , Lauer 12, Strings 8, Rembert 5, Folker 2.

3-pt.goals – Hunter 5, Lauer 3, Strings 2, Rembert 1.

Fouled out – None.

UCR – Austin 21, Soto 2, Scott 12, Cunningham 7, Borum 6, LoBue 13, Dowdy 3, Veteto 2.

3-pt.goals – LoBue 2, Austin 1, Dowdy 1.

Halftime – UCI, 39-30.

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