Biding Time, Hoping for NIT Bid : Anteaters Not Ready to Concede That Their Dream Is Over

They sat in their Forum courtside seats looking very much like two kids trapped at a school assembly, looking very much as if they would rather be elsewhere.

In their hands, UC Irvine’s Mike Hess and Wayne Engelstad held travel bags, trophies for being named to the Pacific Coast Athletic Assn. all-tournament team.

Engelstad, who scored 88 points in three games, was named the tournament’s most valuable player, so maybe his travel bag came with a few more pockets.

Above them shone the score of Saturday’s PCAA tournament championship: Utah State 86, UC Irvine 79.

To their left were the Utah State players--one wearing a net around his neck, three others hoisting the tournament trophy above their heads, everyone smiling. What they were feeling was pretty clear.

But for Hess and Engelstad, two seniors who, most likely, played their last game for Irvine Saturday, the lines weren’t so clearly drawn.

By most any standard, it was a dream tournament for Irvine, which that started play with a 14-13 record.

Irvine upset Cal State Long Beach on Thursday. On Friday, Hess (16 points) and Engelstad (30 points) led the Anteaters to a 74-70 upset of Nevada Las Vegas.

But the problem with dreams is that they tend to end rather abruptly. Saturday, Irvine got a rather rude wake-up call.

“This is pretty tough, considering a lot of people thought we shouldn’t be here,” Hess said. “The fact that we did make it to the final, that doesn’t make me feel any better right now.”

Right now was less than 20 hours after the victory over UNLV, and yet all that seemed years removed.

Hess scored 15 points, although he played a good portion of the second half with four fouls. Engelstad had 27 points and 7 rebounds.

“I’m not going to cry about it,” Engelstad said. “I’ll play again another day.”

Whether it will be with Irvine is doubtful, although Hess said he hoped the team would get a National Invitation Tournament bid.

“I remember two years ago, when we left here after losing, we thought that was it for our season,” Hess said. “Then we end up in the NIT and we beat UCLA.”

But a repeat seems doubtful. Even though Irvine has nearly the same record at 16-14--it was 17-13 after the 1985-86 PCAA tournament--it also had two victories over UNLV two years ago. No such credentials this season. So it probably is all over.

“I don’t think we have anything to be ashamed of,” Engelstad said. “We gave it our best shot.”

Still, there is that something inside that makes you wonder ‘What if?’ What if Irvine could have held its seven-point halftime lead? What if it could have shot better than 41% (29 for 71) from the floor?

“There are a lot of things that go through your mind right after,” Hess said. “I don’t think I thought the game was over until I heard the buzzer. I guess I’m happy about how we did, but you always wonder what might have been.”