Hobbled Ondera Keeps UCI Close in Loss to Pacific

There was UC Irvine’s Marek Ondera, sore left ankle, throbbing left thigh, a bandage next to his right eye. Still, his 17 points and 12 rebounds helped make Saturday’s 61-51 loss to Pacific respectable.

There was Pacific’s Clay McKnight, his right ankle tender for the past two weeks. His 15 points were not a whole lot, but without them, Irvine (5-19, 1-13) might not have a 13-game losing streak.

McKnight canned three three-pointers in the first half, helping the Tigers build a 28-19 halftime lead. He then made four free throws in the final 45 seconds to keep the Tigers (14-10, 9-5) one game behind UC Santa Barbara in the Big West Conference’s Western Division.

Ondera, meanwhile, had eight field goals. The rest of the team had 12.

When the two left the court, all that was missing was a fife and drum.

“I have no new injuries tonight,” Ondera said. “Just the old stuff.”

It’s an extensive list.

A sprained left ankle, which he has been playing with for weeks. A gash next to his eye, suffered in Thursday’s loss to Long Beach State. And, pain in his left thigh from a lingering charley horse, also from Thursday.

Other than that, he was the picture of health.

Still, Ondera made eight of 12 shots and had it not been for his work inside, Pacific’s rebounding advantage (40-28) would have bordered on gluttony. The Tigers’ Scott Thomason, who stands barely 5 feet 5, had eight rebounds.

“Marek is the one inside presence we have,” Coach Pat Douglass said. “His scoring inside was big for us.”

Of course, this was nothing new. Ondera, despite his slight 6-foot-6, 205-pound frame, averages 11 points and seven rebounds. He is shooting 57% in conference play.

“I need to be more aggressive,” Ondera said. “A lot of times, I have my mind on running the offense, when I should just go to the basket. Every time I do that, I get a basket or get fouled.”

There didn’t seem much point to running the offense Saturday. The Anteaters went scoreless for six minutes in the first half and their 19 first-half points equaled their lowest half of the season.

Then Ondera, who had four first-half points, scored Irvine’s first eight points in the second half to keep the game from becoming a rout.

Irvine trailed by as many as 16 points, before Jerry Green led a late rally. He scored 10 of his 12 points in the final 12 minutes. His 12-foot turnaround made it 48-42 with 3 minutes 48 seconds left. Pacific then made eight of nine free throws in the last three minutes.

McKnight, the conference’s top three-point shooter, had scored 23 points in the previous four games, with some uncharacteristic performances. The former Mater Dei and Irvine player was two of 17 from the field in two games against UC Santa Barbara, both games the Gauchos won.