Irvine Close, but Not Close Enough to Win

A UC Irvine team that had lost eight games in a row threatened to stop its slide against UC Santa Barbara Saturday at the Bren Center.

Irvine, playing like a team that has found itself, led by 10 points with seven minutes to play before Santa Barbara came back for a 61-59 Big West Conference victory in front of 3,326.

Irvine’s Gerald McDonald, who led the Anteaters with 17 points, had a chance to tie the score with 2.2 seconds left when he went to the line for three free throws after being fouled by Ray Kelly on a three-point shot.

McDonald missed the first one and stepped back in disgust. He made the second, and Irvine, still trailing by two points, took a timeout to set up an intentional miss on the final free throw.

His miss was a high-bound off the rim. Keith Stewart soared to get a hand on the rebound, but his tip was off the mark.

Irvine Coach Rod Baker’s team is 3-14 and winless in conference games. “The reason I’m smiling is because we’re better than we were a month ago,” Baker said.

Santa Barbara, led by Lucius Davis’ 19 points, is 12-4, 6-2 in the conference.