UCI Starts Fast but Loses Exhibition

Another week, another lesson.

In just 10 minutes, Telecom--a club team from Portugal--took a nice little UC Irvine effort and turned it into the subject of many practices to come. The Anteaters’ 14-point lead vanished in an 85-73 exhibition loss Wednesday at the Bren Center.

The Anteaters, who have only one returning starter in the lineup, showed their age and inexperience. Telecom outscored Irvine, 36-10, to finish the game, leaving Anteater players somewhat stunned. When guard Juma Jackson made an uncontested dunk near the end, it seemed more a release of frustration.

“The lesson we need to learn is that we got to play the whole 40 minutes,” Coach Rod Baker said.

“To be successful, we have to play hard on every position. I think we got fatigued as the game went on and we got out-toughed.”

The crash began after Lamarr Parker had hit a three-pointer to give the Anteaters a 63-49 lead with 10 minutes 46 seconds left. It was then that Telecom went to a full-court press. Parker and the Anteaters, who had taken care of the ball fairly well, struggled to get beyond half-court thereafter. Parker and Brian Johnson finished with five turnovers.

In three minutes, the Anteaters turned the ball over four times and missed three shots. Laverne Evans, who finished with a game-high 30 points, score eight points in a run that cut the lead to 64-62.

Irvine finished with 23 turnovers.

Wayne Engelstad, a former Anteater, finished off his former team.

He scored 11 of his 18 points in the final five minutes. His three-pointer with 4:43 left gave Telecom a 70-68 lead.

A week ago, the Anteaters gave up too many transition baskets in a 91-74 loss to Global Sports. This week, the defense tightened, sparking a 40-36 halftime lead.

Jackson scored 14 of is 19 points in the first half.