Irvine Feels Much Better After Defeating Fullerton

On a night when their top three forwards were either ill or hobbled by injuries, on a night when their top two scorers in Big West Conference play took a total of six shots, on a night when they were outrebounded by 19, the UC Irvine Anteaters still found a way to win.

And that says a lot about Irvine’s evolution into a second-place team in the conference.

Irvine, led by the second-half play of reserves Paul Foster and Clay McKnight, turned back a Cal State Fullerton rally Saturday night and held on for an 85-75 victory in front of 3,336 in the Bren Center. It was the first time Irvine had beaten the Titans in Irvine since Rod Baker became coach in 1991.

Leading scorer Kevin Simmons, who was huffing and puffing and fighting flu, and No. 2 scorer Raimonds Miglinieks each had only five points. Forwards Shaun Battle, who has a sprained wrist, and Michael Tate, who sat out Tuesday’s game because of a sprained ankle, combined for 24 points and nine rebounds.

But it was the play of McKnight, the freshman from Mater Dei, that sparked the Anteaters (12-7, 8-3 in Big West) when the Titans (5-15, 4-8) came back from an 11-point halftime deficit to take a 49-48 lead with 13:39 left in the game. Twenty seconds later, McKnight made a three-point shot. When the Titans pulled back to within two with 9:37 left, he made another. And when Fullerton cut the lead to three with 6:50 to play, he made a third.

And Foster, who finished with 15 points and nine rebounds, helped Irvine--which lost to the Titans in Fullerton Jan. 13--get payback with a putback. Fullerton trailed, 71-68, with 4:42 left when he scored on a follow shot. The Anteaters’ lead was never fewer than five points after that.