PCAA BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT : UC Irvine and Engelstad Get Even, Upset ‘Cocky’ CS Long Beach, 74-69

UC Irvine, emotionally charged against a team it had called cocky, knocked Cal State Long Beach out of the Pacific Coast Athletic Assn. basketball tournament at the Forum Thursday afternoon.

“I’ll cherish this victory forever,” center Wayne Engelstad said after he had scored 31 points and grabbed 15 rebounds in leading the Anteaters to a 74-69 victory.

Engelstad wanted revenge because he said the 49ers had “talked a lot” during their two earlier victories over Irvine.

And his coach, Bill Mulligan, had accused 49er Coach Joe Harrington of calling one of the Anteaters a vulgar name during the second meeting of the teams.

“I’d like to be humble, but it’s really hard,” Mulligan said after Irvine had excelled in the game’s last minute to survive a second-half Long Beach comeback.

Engelstad had a lot of help from Frank Woods, Mike Labat and Kevin Floyd, all of whom had shaved their heads in an attempt to lift team spirit after a 14-13 regular season.

Woods, who had 10 rebounds, made three key baskets that kept the 49ers from getting a cushion after they had finally taken the lead midway through the second half.

And at crunch time, Labat and Floyd soared like bald eagles on the offensive boards, exploiting a season-long 49er weakness.

Labat rebounded Woods’ missed foul shot with 1 minute 18 seconds left and scored, tying the game at 67-67.

But Andre Purry, who led the 49ers with 26 points, went inside to put Long Beach back on top. When Woods missed a shot from the top of the key with 39 seconds to play, the ball and the game were up for grabs.

The ball caromed over the head of 49er center DeAnthony Langston. Floyd leaped, grabbed the ball and went up for a game-tying basket while getting fouled.

He made the free throw, and the Anteaters led, 70-69.

And the 49ers didn’t have Morlon Wiley to depend on. He had fouled out after scoring only 12 points, 8 below his average.

Billy Walker tried to get the ball to Purry but threw it away. After Engelstad made two free throws, Long Beach had one last chance, but Walker missed a three-point shot.

Harrington said the 49ers’ tournament inexperience was the main factor in the defeat, not the odds against beating a team three times in a season.

Poor first-half shooting--36%--also contributed.

And so the 49ers’ surprising season--they had been picked near the bottom of the PCAA but finished fourth--has ended, unless their 17-11 record is deemed worthy of a bid to the National Invitation Tournament.

“I’m proud as the devil of this team,” Harrington said. “They changed a lot of attitudes at Long Beach about the basketball program.”

And what about the 49ers being cocky?

Harrington said: “You don’t play as hard as we do and not have some fight and fire.”