UCI Holds On To Win 73-67
Darren Fells Scored 19 For UCI
January 28, 2006 | MEN'S BASKETBALL | 1 | 2 | F | RECORDS | | UC Irvine | 29 | 44 | 73 | 12-8, 8-0 | | Long Beach State | 24 | 43 | 67 | 9-9, 4-3 | LBSU Leading Scorer: Jibril Hodges (24)
UCI Leading Scorer: Darren Fells (19)
LBSU Leading Rebounder: Shawn Hawkins (10)
UCI Leading Rebounder: Darren Fells (10) | | Box Score |
LONG BEACH, CA--The UC Irvine men's basketball team remained undefeated in Big West Conference play, after holding off Long Beach State in the final minutes of the game, with a 73-67 win at the Walter Pyramid on Saturday. The Anteaters improved to 12-8 overall and 8-0 in league action. The 49ers saw their three-game winning streak snapped and fell to 9-9 and 4-3 in Big West play.
The 49ers rallied from a 19-point deficit (50-31) with 9:03 left in the second half and cut it to a four point margin, 68-62, after a Shawn Hawkins layup with 1:49 left in regulation. That was the closet LBSU got to the Anteaters, who converted three free throws and a layup in the final 1:33 to preserve the six-point victory. Long Beach was stuck on 31 points for seven minutes in the second half as UCI was able to extend a 39-31 lead to 50-31.
"We played 40 minutes of basketball and we played a good stretch, but we dug ourselves into a hole," said 49ers head coach, Larry Reynolds. "We had poor shooting and we didn't move the ball tonight. UCI shot the ball extremely well."
Hawkins registered a double-double for Long Beach State with 11 points and 10 rebounds, while teammate Jibril Hodges notched a game-high 24 points in the losing effort. Aaron Nixon contributed nine points and eight rebounds as well. The Beach shot just 35 percent from the field for the game (24-of-68), but did collect 14 steals, forcing 20 UCI turnovers.
Darren Fells led four Anteaters (12-8, 8-0) in double-figure scoring with 19 points and 10 boards. Ross Schraeder turned in 16 points (4-of-10 from three-point range) and Aaron Fitzgerald had 13 points, five assists and six rebounds.
UC Irvine led throughout much of the contest and had its biggest lead of six points in the first half at 15-9, after an Adam Templeton three-pointer. Long Beach shot just 2-11 (.182) from three-point range in the first half and connected on just 6-of-28 (.214) treys overall.
UCI was able to win the game at the free throw line hitting 24-of-32 charity tosses while the 49ers were just 13-of-16. The Anteaters also out-rebounded the 49ers 41-35.
Long Beach State travels to CS Northridge on Feb. 2 at 7:00 p.m. |
