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UC Irvine Falls Short Against Fullerton

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Times Staff Writer

Just when UC Irvine had drawn the envy of the Big West Conference by upsetting Nevada Las Vegas last week, Cal State Fullerton did the same.

Fullerton upset Las Vegas in overtime Thursday night, setting up a charged meeting against Irvine Saturday in the Bren Center.

Irvine unleashed a flurry of three-point shots against the Titans, making 13 in the game. But the Anteaters fell, 78-75, when Kevin Floyd’s three-point shot in the final seconds failed him, going into the basket and rimmimg back out just before the buzzer.

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Ricky Butler rebounded and looked to pass for one more attempt, but even had there been time, Floyd already had turned away in disappointment.

Floyd’s final attempt was the Anteaters’ 26th three-point attempt of the game. It could not have been closer than it was, but it was a miss just the same.

“I thought (Fullerton) did a nice job,” said Irvine Coach Bill Mulligan, whose team had taken a 77-73 victory in the first game between the teams. “They deserved to win. We just got beat.”

Fullerton’s freshman point guard, Wayne Williams, led the Titans with 20 points, including four of four three-pointers.

Fullerton, which had fallen behind by nine in the first half when Irvine made five consecutive three-pointers, held a 74-72 lead with 1 minute to go after Irvine’s Butler tipped in an offensive rebound.

But Williams made four free throws in the final minute.

Williams, who made a game-winning 25-footer at the overtime buzzer against Las Vegas, made two free throws with 27 seconds left for a 76-72 lead.

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But then Rod Palmer made a three-pointer with 16 seconds left, cutting it to 76-75.

Williams, fouled by Floyd after the ball was inbounded to him with 14 seconds left, made two more free throws.

Derek Jones, the Titans’ senior team captain, had walked to the line to cradle Williams’ head in his arms after he made the first of his four free throws. After his third, Jones gave Williams a playful push.

Besides the game-winner against Las Vegas, Williams made a 35-footer at the halftime buzzer against UC Santa Barbara. And for good measure, he made a three-pointer at the halftime buzzer against Irvine, giving a 39-38 lead.

Such heroics put him in good stead when he stood at the free-throw line with the game on his shoulders in the final minute

“I felt very confident,” Williams said. “I feel if I can knock down the three, I’m sure I can hit easy free throws.”

Mulligan offered no argument.

“Wayne Williams is the guy that beat us,” he said. “What a freshman he is.”

Fullerton (11-10, 6-6) turned its one-point halftime lead into a six-point lead early in the second half.

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But shortly after, Palmer, who finished with 15 points, made a three-pointer, followed by Jeff Herdman, who had five three-pointers among his 17 points. That made it 46-44, Irvine. Two more Herdman three-pointers kept Irvine out front, but then Fullerton’s Mark Hill drove, made the shot and was fouled. His free throw made it 57-55, and Fullerton never trailed again.

Irvine (9-12, 6-6) tied the score three more times--on three-pointers by Mike Doktorczyk and Floyd and an offensive rebound basket by Palmer.

A layup by Williams put the Titans ahead, 70-68, and they staved off the three-pointers to win.

“As a coach, I was concerned that we might be savoring the UNLV win too long,” Fullerton Coach John Sneed said.

But apparently not.

The first time Fullerton and Irvine met this season, Mulligan spotted a hole in the middle of the Titans’ matchup zone defense, and Butler exploited it, scoring 23 points.

This time, the Titans, collapsing on every pass inside, closed that hole at the outset. But with one hole patched, another burst open. Irvine, which has the country’s two best three-point shooters in Herdman and Doktorczyk, bombed away from outside.

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Sneed, a quick enough study, abandoned the zone for a man-to-man defense.

The Titans’ Cedric Ceballos, the conference’s leading scorer, who scored 11 points on five-of-22 shooting.

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