Anteaters Feeling Good About Winning Streak

Not that a two-game winning streak shouldn’t have UC Irvine’s players feeling a bit giddy, but guard Zamiro Bennem found it hard to contain himself Monday after a 75-52 victory over Southern Oregon.

“I didn’t even know they were a [NAIA] Division II school until some one yelled it out before we ran onto the floor,” Bennem said. “It didn’t matter. The outcome was going to be the same. It was going to be the same if we were playing UCLA.”

UCLA?

“Well . . . “ Bennem said.

As the 973 fans in the Bren Center can attest, this was not UCLA. This wasn’t even Cal State Stanislaus, an NCAA Division II team that Irvine labored to beat by 11 earlier this season.

But nine minutes in, when Southern Oregon had almost as many airballs (five) as points (six), it was clear there were few problems ahead for Irvine.

Then again, this wasn’t about victory--that was a given against a team that might have trouble winning a recreation league. This was about effort and perception.

The 23-point margin was the most by Irvine since beating Nevada by 29 on Feb. 12, 1994. The Anteaters have been whupped by 23 or more points 16 times since then, 12 in the last two seasons.

So handling an NAIA Division II team like it was an NAIA Division II team was something to be proud of, a wee bit anyway.

“You always want the appearance of dominance when you play a Division II team,” Coach Pat Douglass said.

That was assured after Bennem scored all eight of his points to get Irvine off to a 10-2 lead. When Jerry Green went around one defender, dipped under three others, and scooped in a layup for a 22-6 lead, there was no looking back.

The Anteaters led by as many as 31 points in the second half, when the game turned sloppy.

Irvine had five turnovers in the fist half and 18 in the second half.

“It’s hard to hold that intensity,” Douglass said. “I was pleased with the effort, especially in the first half. It was good to win like that.”

Green finished with 16 points, making eight of nine shots from the field. It was a nice follow-up to his 22-point game in Irvine’s 82-75 victory over Brigham Young last Tuesday, only this one gave him a chance to showboat some.

On one fast break, Green held the ball out to a defender then snatched it back and scored on a layup.

“It was time to have a little fun,” said Bennem, who didn’t take a shot after sinking his first three. “Just a little.”

Marek Ondera did, twice swatting away shots when the Raiders (6-6) had three-on-one fastbreaks. Of course, Ondera was a one for two on dunks in the last minute, slamming his second effort off the back of the rim.

He was one of four Anteaters to score in double figures, getting 11 points. Mark Gottschalk also had 11 points and Adam Stetson 10.

Irvine was 25 of 48 from the field (shooting better than 50% for the first time). The Anteaters (4-5) had a paltry 32-27 rebound advantage. It was the fourth time this season they have had an edge in rebounding. All have been victories.

But this wasn’t about victory. This was about appearance.

Said Douglass: “[This score] looks better than when we played that other Division II team earlier this season.”