Anteaters See Progress in Loss to Dons

Some day, possibly in the near future, UC Irvine may have a chance to celebrate a bona fide victory. For now, the Anteaters must settle for the moral ones, as they did Saturday.

The Anteaters did not get squashed--as happened so often a year ago--in their opener, losing to San Francisco, 75-59, in front of 1,813 in the Bren Center. They did not roll over for the Dons. They did not resign themselves to a season on the blink by accepting defeat as if they were being spoon fed.

“I’ve been through this before,” said junior guard Lamarr Parker, who scored 19 points. “This is not the end of the world. Still, you want to win. But it wasn’t like it was last season. We took it to them.”

The Anteaters led at halftime, 30-29, and managed a small run late in the game against a team picked by many to win the West Coast Conference.

True, San Francisco has two key starters out for the season because of injuries--all-WCC guard M.J. Nodilo has a stress fracture in his left foot and forward Gerald Zimmerman has torn ligaments in his right knee. But the Dons had enough talent--returning and incoming--to pull away in the second half.

Damian Cantrell scored 18 points--13 in the second half--and Hakeem Ward had 17 to lead San Francisco (1-0). Freshman forward Ali Thomas, who was supposed to redshirt before the injuries, scored 11 points and freshman guard LyRyan Russell had eight.

Cantrell hit a three-pointer to break a 32-32 tie and start a 17-4 San Francisco run early in the second half. The Dons milked it from there, surviving their first-game jitters and 26 turnovers.

“We are just not seasoned enough to beat them in their first game,” first-year UCI Coach Pat Douglass said. “We don’t have the experience yet to come down and get good shots. That was a problem tonight.”

This is all new territory for Douglass, who never has had a losing season in 24 years of coaching. He may not fully realize it, but the Anteaters’ performance was light years beyond last season. Just ask his opponent.

“They didn’t fold,” said San Francisco Coach Phil Mathews, whose team pounded Irvine last season, 77-44. “That tells me a lot of what Pat has done here.”

Still, their were flashes of last season.

The Anteaters had difficulty finding a rhythm on offense. Freshman Ben Jones and sophomore Adam Stetson, both of whom had done well in exhibition games, were smothered by the Dons, who had done their homework. They didn’t allow either of them room behind the three-point line.

Irvine also turned the ball over 27 times, including seven consecutive possessions in the first half. That’s the price of having six new players--four junior college transfers and two freshmen--in the program.

“We have to have our sophomores and freshmen play like seniors and juniors,” Douglass said.

The game had the makings of a rout, and it nearly was one. The Dons led, 20-8, with 9 minutes 21 seconds left in the half. Jones then sank a three-pointer and Parker took it from there. He hit two three-pointers in a 13-3 run and had 10 points by halftime.

Juma Jackson made four free throws in the final minute of the half to give Irvine a 30-29 lead.

“It could have very well been a blowout in the first half,” Douglass said.

It nearly became one in the second half.

Russell had all eight of his points and Thomas six in the second half. The Dons also dominated the inside, outrebounding Irvine, 40-21. San Francisco had 16 offensive rebounds, six by Cantrell. Irvine center Andrew Carlson, who Douglass said needed to score more, had two points and two rebounds.

“They came out and took it to us in the second half,” Douglass said. “We learned tonight that you have to play hard for the entire game.”