Irvine Bounces Past Long Beach

When it comes to Pacific Coast Athletic Assn. tournament time, the basketball seldom bounces UC Irvine’s way. The Anteaters have lost in the first round seven times in 10 appearances, including the last three years.

That changed Thursday afternoon in the nearly deserted Forum, though, and a couple of fortunate bounces turned into game-winning offensive rebounds as Irvine defeated Cal State Long Beach, 74-69.

That alone was enough to make this a very special victory for the Anteaters. But a win over the 49ers, who had beaten Irvine twice this year, made it extra special. In fact, this one might go down in history as The Revenge of the Skinheads.

Irvine starters Kevin Floyd, Frank Woods and Mike Labat shaved their heads Wednesday night. “We just wanted to pick up morale,” Floyd said. “We wanted to beat these guys bad, so we broke out the bald heads.”

Floyd and Labat came up with a couple of slick offensive rebounds on missed shots by Woods that turned the game around.

With 1:18 left, 49er guard Morlon Wiley fouled out of the game, sending Woods to the line for a one-and-one situation. His free throw was short and dropped straight down off the rim. Labat came up with the ball off the floor and put it in to tie the score, 67-67.

Andre Purry, who led the 49ers with 26 points, hit a jump hook 17 seconds later to give Long Beach the lead again.

Then, with 39 seconds left, Woods put up another short shot on an 18-foot jumper. The ball bounded over the head of Long Beach center DeAnthony Langston and Floyd grabbed it, went up and banked in a five-footer. Langston fouled him--and fouled out in the process--and Floyd made the free throw to put Irvine ahead, 70-69.

Purry fumbled the ball out of bounds on the 49ers’ next possession, and the Anteaters made four straight free throws in the final seconds after Long Beach was forced to foul.

“I’d like to be humble, but it’s really hard,” Irvine Coach Bill Mulligan said. “This is the first time since ’84 we’ve gotten by the first game. We got a few breaks, but we did it.”

Those key offensive rebounds got Irvine over the hump, but it was the play of senior Wayne Engelstad that carried the Anteaters to the top of the hill. Engelstad, who tied the tournament record for points in a half with 24 before the intermission, finished with 31 points and a career-high 15 rebounds.

The 49ers went to a diamond-and-one defense in the second half, and that slowed the 6-foot 8-inch center, but he still made 2 of 3 second-half field goals and grabbed 8 rebounds. Engelstad finished 10 of 14 from the floor and 9 of 10 at the free throw line.

“Every time down the floor, I told myself, ‘This could be your last game,’ ” Engelstad said. “I’ll cherish this win forever. The 49ers talked a lot of trash during the last two games, but this time we could point to the clock in the final seconds. They won more battles, but we won the war.”

In the first two games, which the 49ers won by a total of 28 points, Long Beach’s full-court pressure wreaked havoc on the Anteaters. Irvine committed 49 turnovers in those two games. Thursday, Irvine had 18 turnovers, but the 49ers’ inability to make many field goals (they shot 36% in the first half) meant they didn’t have many chances to set up the press.

“Our press was fine, but our offense was shaky,” Joe Harrington, the first-year 49er coach, said. “We have been running our offense very, very well, but we just played poorly today.

“Engelstad was marvelous; he was the key to their success. But the game still came down to blocking out, and we just didn’t do it.”

Long Beach grabbed an 8-2 lead before going stone cold. Irvine outscored the 49ers, 18-3, to take a 20-11 advantage with 10:35 left in the half. The 49ers were getting pretty good shots but couldn’t get the ball to drop and went 7 1/2 minutes without making a basket.

Irvine led, 42-36, at halftime, but Long Beach’s new defense took Engelstad out of the game and the 49ers found the range (they shot 52% in the second half). Long Beach grabbed its first second-half lead (56-54) when Purry hit a turnaround jumper with 12:45 remaining. The 49ers didn’t trail again until the Anteaters took over and Floyd converted the three-point play with 39 seconds left.

Irvine meets seventh-ranked Nevada Las Vegas at 7 tonight.

“If we win tomorrow, I’ll shave my head, too,” Engelstad said, a wide grin splitting his face.

Anteater Notes

Sophomore forward Steve Florentine and freshman guard Chris Cresswell were suspended from the team for the remainder of the season for “attitude problems,” Coach Bill Mulligan said. Florentine averaged 2.6 points and 1.3 rebounds; Cresswell averaged 1.8 points and 0.7 assists.