Anteaters atop Big West

UCI men’s separate from releaseUC Irvine retains sole possession of first place in the conference after edging UC Santa Barbara on the road on Monday. SANTA BARBARA -- The UC Irvine men’s basketball team retained sole possession of first place in the Big West Conference with a 70-66 victory over UC Santa Barbara on Monday night at The Thunderdome.

The Anteaters are 6-8, 2-0 in conference. Every other team in the Big West Conference has at least one loss.

Nic Campbell and Shamar Armstrong hit three-pointers in the last three minutes to help seal the victory for UCI.

Campbell’s three-pointer gave the Anteaters a 65-59 lead with 1:21 left in the fourth quarter.

The Gauchos pulled to within 68-66 with seven seconds left, but Campbell knocked down two free throws with five seconds left to help seal the win.

Campbell, Aaron Fitzgerald and Ross Schraeder combined to score 42 of UC Irvine’s 70 points.

The Anteaters hit 11 of 26 three-point attempts. Schraeder was 4 of 10 from three-point land and Campbell was 3 of 4.

Schrader now has 203 career three-pointers, No. 1 alltime at UCI. He surpassed Jeff Herdman’s 201 from 1987-91.

UC Santa Barbara (6-8, 1-3) led for most of the game. But three-pointers by Schraeder and Adam Templeton gave the Anteaters a 50-47 advantage with 9:08 left.

The Gauchos had their final lead when Cecil Brown (team-high 15 points) hit a jump shot to create a 54-52 advantage with 6:46 left.

Senior center Adam Metelski came off the bench to produce seven points and five rebounds for UCI.

The Anteaters come home for two consecutive Big West Conference matchups, Friday against Cal State Northridge and Sunday against Pacific.

Big West Conference

UC Irvine 70, UCSB 66

Score by Halves