Georgetown Forced to Work for 64-60 Victory Over Irvine : College basketball: Anteaters gain confidence with big game against No. 10 Hoyas in final of Freedom Bowl Classic.

The day Rod Baker was hired as coach at UC Irvine, the former Seton Hall assistant promised to bring East Coast basketball to Orange County. It was a comment that rankled plenty of people at the time.

But Irvine fans were not complaining Wednesday, when a sellout crowd of 5,022 watched Irvine challenge 10th-ranked Georgetown for about 39 minutes before losing, 64-60, in the final of the Disneyland Freedom Bowl Classic at the Bren Center.

While the Irvine crowd chanted “Over--Rated, Over--Rated,” Georgetown had to fight hard against the Anteaters, a team that won only seven games last season and was 2-3 before facing the Hoyas.

Irvine took a 6-0 lead at the outset, and neither team was able to edge ahead by more than six until the second half. Georgetown led by one at halftime, 30-29.

In the second half, neither team could spring free until Georgetown went up by seven with six minutes left on Robert Churchwell’s 10-foot follow shot. Irvine got it back to three with when Lloyd Mumford fed Dee Boyer for a dunk.

With 2 1/2 minutes left, the lead was only two after Mumford made a free throw after being fouled while driving the lane.

The turning point came when Boyer was whistled for a foul with 1:41 left as he stepped in front of Othella Harrington to make a steal. Harrington made both free throws, and the lead was four again. After the Hoyas’ Joey Brown stole Irvine’s inbounds pass, the Anteaters were playing desperate the rest of the way.

Georgetown made eight of 11 free throws in the final two minutes.

Irvine matched up with Georgetown surprisingly well. Harrington, the Hoyas’ 6-foot-10 freshman center, has been the team’s leading scorer. But Irvine had a 6-10 center of equal bulk, Dee Boyer, to put on him.

Harrington, who scored 14 points, was hampered by foul trouble from the outset and fouled out in the final minute. Duane Spencer, the Hoyas’ other 6-10 freshman, had 20 points and 11 rebounds.

The Anteaters also matched up well with the Hoyas in the backcourt, where Irvine countered Irvin Church and the Hoyas’ point guard, Joey Brown, with two quick guards who play good defense, Keith Stewart and Mumford.

Irvine’s problems on offense stemmed from its lack of success shooting outside.

Stewart scored 14 points, LaDay Smith added 14 and Mumford had 13 points and eight assists.

Hawaii Pacific 91, Southern California College 90--Southern California College made two major comebacks but ran out of time against in the consolation game.

SCC (5-6) fell behind at the outset, 11-0, then took a 44-43 halftime lead behind the play of Danin Bryant, who finished with 20 points, and reserve guard McClain, who scored 16. But in the second half, Hawaii Pacific (12-3) led by 18. SCC cut it to one when Jason McClain made a three-pointer with 1.3 seconds left, but the Vanguards were out of timeouts and Hawaii Pacific let the clock expire.