Anteaters survive

ANAHEIM — At the UC Irvine men’s basketball banquet Sunday, Anteaters’ Coach Pat Douglass said he was excited for the Big West Conference Tournament and wondered aloud, “Why the hell can’t it be us [that wins it]?”

After UCI followed up Wednesday’s blazing shooting performance in the first round with a suspenseful 57-56 quarterfinal victory over Pacific Thursday at the Anaheim Convention Center, those inside the UCI locker room aren’t the only ones convinced they have at least as good a shot as any of the conference tri-champions that remain.

The win advanced No. 5-seeded UCI (17-15) to today’s 5:30 p.m. semifinal against No. 1-seeded UC Santa Barbara (23-7) at the convention center.

The win not only came down to the final buzzer, but a brief conference by the officials seconds later.

After UOP stole the ball in the backcourt with 11 seconds left, the Tigers called timeout with 5.9 ticks remaining to set up what they hoped would be a dramatic last-shot victory.

It turned out to be two shots, as 5-foot-11 junior guard Michael Kirby rebounded a missed three-point try by sophomore guard C.J. Morgan just outside the lane and put up a shot that was blocked by Patrick Sanders as the buzzer sounded.

Sanders leaped high and appeared to contact the ball while it was going up. The officials agreed. Sanders said he pinned the ball against the backboard, but lead official Dick Cartmell said afterward that only in the NBA is pinning the ball against the board goaltending. Cartmell also said the putback attempt beat the buzzer.

“I just went up there and pinned it against the glass,” Sanders said.

“I couldn’t tell from my angle, but I just know it was on the way up,” Douglass said. “It was a helluva block. [Sanders] was up there big time on that shot.”

Confidence, teamwork and determination have helped UCI become a postseason contender. All three were on display against the No. 4-seeded Tigers (21-10).

Unlike Wednesday’s win over Long Beach State, UCI came out strong Thursday, seizing a 22-8 lead behind a heroic performance by sophomore point guard Michael Hunter.

Hunter, who came in averaging 12.8 points in his previous five games, more than four points better than his season average, scored 14 in the first 8 minutes, 21 seconds, including a trio of three-pointers on three straight UCI possessions to boost the lead to the aforementioned 14 points.

Hunter added a traditional three-point play and freshman Kevin Rembert, who started in place of sophomore Chad DeCasas, also connected on an early three-pointer to propel the designated visitors to a 30-25 halftime lead.

Pacific, hampered when first-team all-conference junior Steffan Johnson picked up his third foul and missed the final 8:33 of the first half, used an 8-0 run to trim the deficit to 26-21 with 5:04 left before intermission.

UOP outscored the ’Eaters, 12-4 to close the half.

UCI, which needs to win the Big West Tournament to earn an NCAA berth, mounted its first-half assault with modest offensive contributions from senior stars Darren Fells and Sanders.

Fells, who collected eight rebounds, scored four points on two-of-four shooting from the field. He missed nearly two minutes after taking an elbow to the stomach while being called for a foul on a rebound.

Sanders had just two first-half points, both from the foul line. He managed just one field-goal attempt.

After Johnson drained a three-pointer to open the second half, Sanders netted an eight-foot runner and a thunderous baseline dunk to help UCI maintain control.

When Hunter made a drifting three-pointer from the right wing with 13:26 left and DeCasas followed with a three ball from the right wing with 11:44 remaining, UCI had a 44-31 lead.

But UOP kept coming. Johnson netted a three-pointer with 2:43 left to pull them within 55-52.

After a UCI shot-clock violation, Pacific junior Bryan LeDuc scored on a layup with 16.7 seconds left to finalize the scoring.

“There’s nothing I could say about it,” UOP Coach Bob Thomason said of the game-ending play. “It doesn’t matter anyway. What if it was goaltending? It doesn’t matter. It’s not goaltending. We lost.”

Hunter finished with 17 points, while Fells chipped in 11 points and 13 boards. Sanders had eight points and nine boards.

UCI swept UCSB in the regular season, posting a 65-59 win at the Thunderdome on Feb. 9 and topping the Gauchos, 66-63, at the Bren Events Center on Jan. 10.

UCI has beat UCSB three straight games, dating back to last season.

This is the Anteaters’ 13th trip to the conference tournament semifinals. They are 2-10 in their previous semifinal games. UCI has never won the conference tournament or advanced to the NCAA Tournament. The conference champion earns an automatic berth in the NCAA Tournament.

Should UCI prevail tonight, it would square off either No. 4-seeded Cal State Fullerton (22-8) or No. 2-seeded Cal State Northridge (20-9) in the 8 p.m. title game Saturday.

Big West Conference Tournament

Quarterfinal

UC Irvine 57, Pacific 56

UCI – Sanders 8, Fells 11, Hunter 17, McIntosh 9, Rembert 5, Bland 4, DeCasas 3.

3-pt. goals – Hunter 4, Rembert 1, DeCasas 1.

Fouled out – Bland.

Technicals – Bench.

UOP – Brown 12, Nunnally 7, Johnson 8, Troyer 10, Morgan 2, Neimeyer 8, LeDuc 6, Kirby 3.

3-pt. goals – Johnson 2, Neimeyer 2, Brown 1, Troyer 1.

Fouled out – Nunnally.

Technicals – Coach Thomason.

Halftime – UCI, 30-25.

BARRY FAULKNER may be reached at (714) 966-4615 or at [email protected].