Call Goes in Irvine’s Favor and San Luis Obispo Pays

Weary from playing the organized chaos Cal Poly San Luis Obispo calls basketball, UC Irvine got a call Thursday night that prevented the Anteaters from wilting.

Their 94-90 Big West Conference victory in front of 2,050 in the Bren Center turned on a technical foul that was called on Jabbar Washington. It tilted the game Irvine’s way.

With 30 seconds left and the score tied at 86, Irvine attempted to run a play in which Adam Stetson, standing out of bounds along the baseline, throws the ball to Jason Flowers, also standing out of bounds. Flowers was then to in-bound the ball.

Washington leaped across the baseline on the exchange and flipped the ball in bounds to Brandon Beeson for a layup. But referees ruled the ball had not been put in play. After an intense discussion among Mustang Coach Jeff Schneider and referees, Irvine’s Junior Bond made the two free throws. The Mustangs (8-11, 1-6) then batted the ball away from Malachi Edmond, but Edmond picked it up and drove for a layup and a 90-86 Irvine lead.

The Anteaters (7-10, 4-3) then made four of six free throws in the last 17 seconds.

“I’ve seen that happen before,” Irvine Coach Pat Douglass said. “I’ve also seen it not called.”

Schneider said he would seek an explanation from conference officials.

Although the technical was the pivotal point, it was Bond who was the deciding factor. Bond, a 5-foot-7 junior college transfer, scored 11 of his 14 points in the final 3 minutes 28 seconds.

None was more crucial than the three-point basket he sank to start that spree. It tied the score 80-80, and ended a 14-1 San Luis Obispo run.

Bond scored the next five Irvine points.

“He hasn’t shot well all season,” Douglass said. “But that was a big bucket.”

Bond entered the game shooting 30% from the field and had made only nine of 41 three-pointers. He was one of six from the field before making the three-pointer.

“As I was going up, I thought, ‘Pat probably doesn’t want me taking this shot,’ ” Bond said. “I said, ‘Forget it, let’s shoot.’

“I was having an off-night. But my shot hasn’t been there all season.”

Bond was contributing in other ways Thursday. He had seven assists by halftime and finished with nine.

“The team kind of feeds off me, and my body language hasn’t been too good lately,” Bond said.

It certainly wasn’t in the last game, when the Anteaters were overwhelmed by Long Beach State. Bond had five key turnovers in that game. But he seemed more at home against the Mustangs’ helter-skelter style.

“Coach told us not to get into an up-and-down the court game with them,” Bond said. “But that’s hard.”

Irvine, which came in averaging 59 points, did well at that pace for a while. The Anteaters, who had a 21-11 edge in offensive rebounds, scored 13 points on second chances in the first half. Another 12 points came off fastbreaks.

By halftime, Irvine had a 52-43 lead, giving the Anteaters more points than they scored in four of their games this season. The 94 points was the most they have scored since beating New Mexico State, 95-87, Feb. 26, 1994.

Several times three or four players dived on the floor going for the ball and collided. The intensity peaked when Irvine’s Wendell Robinson and San Luis Obispo’s Ross Ketcham exchanged heated words and were called for a technical fouls.

“I’ve never seen so many bodies hitting the floor,” said Stetson, who had 14 points and 10 rebounds. “But I like that. I get pumped up when guys get intense.”

Irvine led, 75-66, with nine minutes left. But the Mustangs kept the pressure on. Mike Wozniak (22 points) and Chris Bjorklund (18 points) combined to score all San Luis Obispo’s points in a 14-1 run.