Irvine’s Engelstad Scores 31 in Loss to Gauchos

UC Irvine’s Wayne Engelstad and UC Santa Barbara’s Brian Shaw, two of the Pacific Coast Athletic Assn.’s top players, did what they do best Saturday night.

The 6-foot 8-inch, 250-pound Engelstad, shooting from outside, made 7 of 11 three-pointers and scored 31 points.

But that wasn’t enough as Shaw, a lean 6-6 guard, sparked a Gaucho spurt late in the game, scoring 6 points and grabbing a key rebound in a 1 1/2-minute stretch, as the Gauchos rallied to beat Irvine, 83-77, before a standing-room-only crowd of 6,000 in the Campus Events Center.

The Anteaters, 14-13 overall and 9-9 in PCAA action, had a 64-60 lead with 7:24 remaining but the Gauchos (21-6, 13-5) tied the game, 66-66, with 5:07 left. Shaw returned to the game with Santa Barbara ahead by two, 68-66, and 3:21 remaining. He made four free throws and a turnaround baseline jumper and, all of sudden, the Gauchos were up by eight points with 1:49 left in the game.

Engelstad made two more three pointers and a follow shot down the stretch, but it wasn’t quite enough.

“I was just giving Shaw a little rest to gain his composure and poise for the final three minutes,” Gaucho Coach Jerry Pimm said. “And he went in and grabbed control of the game.”

But Engelstad, shooting from about 25 feet, almost pulled it out for the Anteaters by himself.

“He just wouldn’t quit,” Pimm said. “We had Eric (McArthur) get his long arms on him, but that just forced him to make them from 40 feet instead of 35. Engelstad played his heart out and he really hurt us.”

Engelstad wasn’t able to bomb Santa Barbara into submission but Shaw was able to pull the plug on the Anteaters with quiet finesse. Shaw finished with 14 points, 6 rebounds, eight assists, two steals and two blocked shots.

Irvine Coach Bill Mulligan thought McArthur--and referee Lou Fuentes--were the big factors, though. Santa Barbara made 24 of 31 free throws. Irvine made just 5 of 11.

“McArthur hurt us defensively and Fuentes, well . . . “ Mulligan said, biting his tongue. “Santa Barbara played a very good game, though. They’re really well coached and it shows. Hell, I don’t even know who they’re top scorer was.”

It was senior Brian Johnson, who hit 3 of 3 three-pointers in the first half and finished with 20 points on 6 of 9 field-goal shooting. McArthur, who also had 9 rebounds and 5 blocks, and Carlton Davenport scored 12 each and forward Gary Gray added 10 points.

Balance is just one of the reasons the Gauchos will probably be an NCAA tournament selection. The poise of Silent Shaw in the clutch is undoubtedly another.

Engelstad, who has not played all that well in Irvine’s last three games, will have to erupt in the PCAA tournament for the Anteaters to get a chance at postseason play.

“Sometimes, before a game, you look at your teammates and you get a feeling,” Engelstad said. “I could have sworn we would win this game. I mean they’re a very good team, they’ve beaten (Nevada Las) Vegas twice, but they were only 5-3 in this place before tonight. They’re not invincible.

“And we played pretty well. I don’t know what we shot in the first half (62% from the floor), but we were sticking it down pretty good. We just hit that one stretch late in the second half where the ball wouldn’t drop and we let up a little on defense.”