Pacesetters

Steve Virgen

With the Big West Conference season winding down, every possession

becomes that much more meaningful. Every drop-step turned fadeaway

bucket proves even more important, every three-point bomb brings

about more momentum and ultimately every game carries more worthiness

for positioning in the Big West.

The UC Irvine men’s basketball team, led by Adam Parada and Ross

Schraeder, won its fifth straight game and moved into a three-way tie

for first place in the Big West after defeating Cal State Northridge,

64-57, in front of 2,289 at the Bren Events Center Thursday night.

UC Santa Barbara, which entered the night atop the Big West, lost

to the conference’s darkhorse Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, 66-63, while

Utah State defeated Cal State Fullerton, 62-41, to bump up to first,

as well.

“It’s a tough race,” said UCI Coach Pat Douglass, whose team

improved to 16-7, 10-4 in the Big West. “Eighteen league ballgames.

It’s hard to win a game in league. We had to battle tonight to win

this game. Our kids played hard to win this game. So, did Northridge.

They came out and battled us.”

Parada, UCI’s 7-foot junior center, scored a team-high 18 points,

while Schraeder, a redshirt freshman guard, sparked the Anteaters in

the second half with nine points on 3-of-4 shooting from beyond the

three-point line.

Redshirt freshman point guard Jeff Gloger added 12 points, six

assists and three steals, while junior forward Stanislav Zuzak

contributed 10 points and a crucial three-point play late in the

game.

“(Mike) Hood was missing a couple of his shots; he’s been so on

the past month, I guess this was bound to happen,” Schraeder said of

his teammate, the Big West leader in three-point field-goal

percentage (44%) who did not hit a shot from the field. Hood finished

with four points, on free throws in the final nine seconds.

“I just came in and I got a couple of good open looks,” Schrader

said. “I guess I’m a bit of a streaky shooter, like Hood or anybody.

When I hit a couple of them I get a lot of confidence. My teammates

were finding me.”

Northridge (10-13, 4-9) cut into a 38-28 deficit with a 7-0 run,

as UCI went through a scoring drought that lasted 4:48 in the second

half. But, Schraeder broke the Anteaters out with his first of three

three-pointers. He drained another 27 seconds later to give UCI a

44-35 lead that forced a timeout with 10:56 left.

When the Matadors came within, 48-43, with 8:33 left, Schraeder

drilled another trey. However, Northridge, which was led by Curtis

Slaughter’s 18 points, would not go away. Slaughter later hammered

home a three-pointer with 2:49 that pulled the deficit, 54-52.

With 1:24 left, Zuzak made good on an 8-foot turnaround shot along

the baseline while he was fouled. He completed the three-point play

for a 57-52 lead. Moments before Zuzak’s three-point play, Northridge

Coach Bobby Braswell shouted for a traveling call when Hood

apparently juggled a pass while taking an extra step.

“This whole week, we talked about how big each possession would be

in this game,” Braswell said. “On that play, the official was there,

but what can you say? It’s just one of those things where (the

official) didn’t see it.

You have to live with it. (Zuzak’s three-point play), that was

huge ... (but) we had a chance at the end (trailing 59-55 with 40

seconds left) but we just came down and shot ourselves in the foot.”

Douglass said he wasn’t sure the game was over until there was

nine seconds left, when Hood hit two free throws for a 62-57 lead.

“We just couldn’t put them away,” Douglass said. “Ross Schraeder

hit some key buckets when we were struggling offensively. Adam Parada

looked much better in the low post. They’ve been coming after his

hook shot. He wasn’t getting any shots off. They take away the left

shoulder where he can’t hook it.

The Anteaters gained momentum when they scored six unanswered

points in the final 2:18 of the first half. They scored four in the

final 35 seconds after, Gloger scored on a layup and Northridge

committed a turnover on an inbound violation. Jordan Harris nailed an

eight-foot baseline shot to beat the halftime buzzer and UCI took a

31-23 lead to the locker room.

Parada scored 12 in the first half.

“It could go any way; you never know,” Parada said of the Big West

race.

“Our goal is to win league and go to the NCAA Tournament.”

The ‘Eaters return to action Saturday night at 7:05 when they host

the University of the Pacific, which has key players Christian

Maraker and Demetrius Jackson nursing injuries.

*--*

ZOTS - The Anteaters recorded their fifth-straight win, their longest

winning streak of the season ... UCI associate head coach Todd Lee

celebrated his 39th birthday ... UCI junior forward Matt Okoro

rattled the rim with an impressive tip-jam with 10:32 left in the

first half after a miss by Greg Ethington ... Northridge’s Justice

Graham quit the team last week, prompting Sergei Lepiashinski’s

removal of his redshirt status ... Gloger has 63 steals, bringing him

closer to Scott Brooks’ single-season school record of 66

*--*