‘Eaters extend season
LAFAYETTE — Senior Mike Best made a 10-foot fall-away jumper with 3.4 seconds left to lift UC Irvine to a 67-66 victory over Louisiana Lafayette in the quarterfinals of the CollegeInsider.com men’s basketball tournament on Wednesday at the Cajundome.
Lafayette senior standout Shawn Long, who posted his 23rd double-double of the season with 10 points and 11 rebounds, missed a running jumper from the free-throw line while under pressure in the final second to send UCI to the semifinals on Sunday, with an opponent and site to be determined.
The victory adds to the Anteaters’ single-season record for wins (27-9) and also gives them two national postseason tournament wins in the same season for the first time in program history.
UCI senior Alex Young had 16 of his game-high 21 points in the first half to help UCI earn a 40-33 advantage.
Coach Russell Turner’s UCI squad scored the first eight points after intermission, including three-pointers by Young (five for nine from three-point range) and Ioannis Dimakopoulos, who started in place of 7-foot-6 junior center Mamadou Ndiaye (out with a lower leg injury suffered in UCI’s first-round win at North Dakota).
But The Ragin’ Cajuns (19-15) erased the 15-point UCI lead and eventually led, 59-57, with 6:13 left. The hosts, who were winless in all four games decided by five or fewer points this season, were ahead, 66-65, with 22 seconds left after junior guard Jay Wright made a 14-foot jumper from the left wing.
UCI junior guard Jaron Martin had 12 points, while Dimakopoulos finished with 11 points, on five-for-nine shooting from the field.
Junior Luke Nelson, a first-team All-Big West Conference performer who came in leading UCI in scoring at 13.9 per game, was three for 14 from the field, including one for six from threedom. He finished with seven points and one assist and three turnovers.
Best wound up with six points, six rebounds and three blocked shots, while freshman reserve Jonathan Galloway had a team-best 12 rebounds and four blocks to go with eight points.
UCI was two for three from the foul line, while Lafayette sank 15 of 21. The Anteaters also had 12 of the game’s 19 turnovers and lost the rebounding battle, 44-40.
But UCI’s defense helped limit the Ragin’ Cajuns to 32.9% from the field (23 for 70), including five for 24 beyond the arc (20.8%). The ‘Eaters had eight blocked shots.
UCI made 28 of 67 field-goal tries (41.8%), including nine for 23 from threedom (39.1%).
Possible UCI semifinal opponents include Wednesday quarterfinal winners Coastal Carolina (21-11) and Columbia (23-10), as well as the winner of Thursday night’s quarterfinal between Texas Arlington (24-10) at New Jersey Institute of Technology (19-14).
The title game is scheduled for Tuesday.
Coastal Carolina edged Grand Canyon, 60-58, and Columbia trimmed Ball State, 69-67, on Wednesday.