Irvine Needs 2 Overtimes to Beat Calgary

UC Irvine got in some extra work in its first exhibition game, needing two overtimes to outlast Calgary, 82-78, Saturday in the Bren Center.

Irvine has six new players, including five freshmen, but it was the returning players who got the Anteaters through, including sophomore Ben Jones, who scored 15 points.

Sophomore Malachi Edmond scored on a driving layup to start the second overtime and senior Brian Scoggin sank a three-pointer for a five-point lead. Calgary nearly forced a third overtime, but Troy Gedlaman missed a three-pointer with 12 seconds left.

It was the new players, though, who made impressions--good and bad.

“We have a lot of new players and they made some key plays,” Coach Pat Douglass said. “But they lack experience and it showed at times.”

Freshman guard Gabe Cagwin had a team-high 16 points, making six of 11 shots. Cagwin, who made four of six three-pointers, scored 11 points during a 13-6 run that cut an eight-point Calgary lead to 56-55. He also fouled out in the first overtime.

Freshman Jerry Green and sophomore Stan Divranos, a junior college transfer, followed up first-game mistakes with big plays. Green hit a turnaround jumper in the key to give Irvine a 78-74 lead in the second overtime. Divranos had 11 points and 10 rebounds.

Irvine trailed much of the game, but never by more than eight points.

“Any time we got behind, I thought we did a good job of battling back,” Douglass said. “We didn’t always seem to know how to play once we got the lead, but we buckled down to get back in the game.”