|
Men's Basketball:
UC Irvine Downs Cal State Fullerton 78-74 in Overtime
Jan. 3, 2009 IRVINE, Calif. --- Senior guard Brett Lauer and freshman forward Eric Wise combined for 52 points in leading UC Irvine to a 78-74 overtime win over Cal State Fullerton in the Anteaters' Big West Conference opener Saturday night at the Bren Events Center. Both netted career highs as Lauer scored 27 points, hitting 9 of 14 field goals including 7 of 12 threes, while Wise had 25 points, knocking down 7 of 13 from the field and making 11 of 12 free throws. The win was the first home victory of the season for UCI (3-10, 1-0 Big West) after the `Eaters had dropped their first four. Lauer, who scored 22 points in the first half in leading UCI to a 37-27 lead at intermission, tied his career high with the seven treys in the game. Freshman forward Adam Folker scored seven points and pulled down a career-high 11 rebounds, seven on the offensive glass. Wise added eight boards and senior forward Kevin Bland six. Bland, who entered the game as UCI's leading scorer with a 12.2 average went scoreless in the contest. Freshman guard Jacques Streeter led Fullerton (6-8, 0-2) with 23 points, hitting 9 of 13 field goals, plus he had a game-high seven assists. Aaron Thompson added 16 points off the bench. Senior guard Josh Akognon scored 12 points, 12 short of his season average. Papa Guisse led the Titans with eight rebounds. UCI built a 53-42 lead on a jumper by Michael Hunter with 11:48 left in regulation but Fullerton battled back to tie the game at 64-64 on a basket by Streeter with 24 seconds remaining. The Anteaters were playing for the last shot but Streeter stole the ball from Lauer with six seconds left and missed a driving layup at the other end of the court with Guisse trying to convert a pair of offensive rebounds as time expired.
UCI jumped out to a 68-64 lead on baskets by Patrick Rembert and Wise early in overtime, but the Titans pulled even at 71-71 on a three by Thompson with 1:42 remaining in the extra period. Hunter hit a three from the left side with 27 seconds left to give the `Eaters a 74-71 lead and Wise hit a pair of free throws with 15 seconds remaining for a five-point margin. Marcio Lassiter nailed a trey with four seconds remaining to pull Fullerton within two, but Wise hit two more free throws with 3.3 seconds left for the four-point win as UCI snapped a five-game losing streak in the Fullerton series. UCI shot 41.5 percent from the field for the game but connected on 4 of 6 in overtime. The Titans shot 48.3 percent in the game but were just 8 of 17 from the foul line to the Anteaters' 15 of 21. UCI out-rebounded its sixth straight opponent with a 41-36 edge. UCI goes on the road next week, facing UC Santa Barbara Thursday and Cal Poly Saturday in 7:00 p.m. conference games. |
