‘Eaters hold off 49ers

UC Irvine builds 19-point edge over Long Beach State, then withstands valiant comeback to increase Big West lead to 31/2 games.LONG BEACH -- The Long Beach State men’s basketball team ran out of time trying to climb out of a 19-point hole it found itself in midway through the second half Saturday against rival UC Irvine.

And with the hard-fought 73-67 Big West Conference victory -- before 2,398 at the Walter Pyramid -- the Anteaters (12-8, 8-0 in conference) completed hand-delivery of a shovel to the last of their seven Big West foes.

By accumulating five road wins in its perfect Big West start and opening a 3 1/2 -game lead over second-place Pacific (14-6, 4-2), Coach Pat Douglass’ squad appears willing and able to continue piling dirt on the chase pack with only six conference games left on its schedule.

“We came ready to play today and I thought we accepted the challenge,” Douglass said of his team’s visit to the 49ers (9-9, 4-3), who woke up Saturday alone in second place, but now share third with Cal Poly San Luis Obispo (6-12, 4-3). “I think [Long Beach is] a good ballclub and this is a big win for us.”

No Anteater played bigger than sophomore center Darren Fells, who produced 19 points and 10 rebounds. Fells made 6 of 9 field-goal attempts and 7 of 9 free throws. His physical play in the paint also matched that of the determined hosts.

“I thought Darren Fells played huge,” said Douglass, who found no dissent from Long Beach State Coach Larry Reynolds.

“We didn’t do the job we’d have liked to covering him,” Reynolds said. “He has proved he is a very good player in this conference.”

The Anteaters, who had not been in such a precarious position in their first seven conference games, proved they had enough will to stave off the 49ers’ furious rally.

“I thought we showed toughness,” Douglass said of the second half, in which the 49ers used a relentless full-court press to cut a 50-31 deficit with 9:03 left to 70-67 with 43 seconds remaining. “The crowd was into it and we could have folded. But we hung tough.”

After Shawn Hawkins’ three-pointer pared the UCI lead to three, a goaltending call on Anteater freshman Adam Templeton’s layup attempt put the visitors up, 72-67, with 18 seconds left.

Long Beach couldn’t score again and the Anteaters put the game away from the foul line. Irvine hit 9 of its last 10 free-throw attempts and was 24 of 32 from the line overall.

UCI shot a modest 41.2% from the field (21 of 51), but its defense helped hold Long Beach to just 35.3% from the field.

UCI’s defense intensified after a 49er field goal cut the visitors’ lead to 37-30 with 17:06 left in the second half. For the next 8:39, UCI held the hosts without a field goal.

“We couldn’t score the ball for seven or eight minutes at the beginning of the second half,” Reynolds said. “It was poor shooting that helped get us in that big hole.”

Senior Ross Schraeder had 16 points -- including four three-pointers -- for the winners, who received 13 points, six rebounds, five assists and eight turnovers from senior point guard Aaron Fitzgerald.

Templeton had 10 points off the bench and senior guard Shamar Armstrong was a defensive stalwart, while also collecting six points and three rebounds.

Senior Jibril Hodges led Long Beach with 24 points.

Big West Conference

UC Irvine 73,

Long Beach State 67,

Score by Halves