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Men's Basketball:
Balanced Scoring Leads UC Irvine Past Long Beach State at Big West Tournament
March 12, 2008 ANAHEIM, Calif. --- Senior center Darren Fells scored 19 points to lead four UC Irvine players in double figures in the Anteaters' 77-63 win over Long Beach State Wednesday night in a first-round game of the Big West Conference Tournament at the Anaheim Convention Center. Fells was 8 of 10 from the field and added seven rebounds and four assists as UCI improved to 16-15 on the season. Senior forward Patrick Sanders scored 18 points, senior guard Marcus McIntosh tied his career high with 16 and sophomore guard Michael Hunter added 12. Sanders also recorded four assists. McIntosh scored 14 of his points in the opening 20 minutes as UCI built a 47-31 halftime lead. The Anteaters shot 72 percent from the field in the first half. Donovan Morris led the 49ers (6-25) with 25 points and Greg Plater added 17. UCI maintained a double-digit lead throughout the second half, leading by as many as 20 at 64-44, as the closest Long Beach State came was 10 at 73-63 on a basket by Plater with 1:57 remaining. The win was somewhat of a payback for the Anteaters, who were eliminated from the tournament by the 49ers the previous two years in the semifinals. UCI shot 58.8 percent from the floor in the game. Junior Kevin Bland had five rebounds and five assists in 22 reserve minutes. The Anteaters, seeded fifth in the tournament, face No. 4 seed Pacific Thursday night at approximately 8:30 in a quarterfinal game. The teams split during the regular season.
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