UC Irvine Falls Flat Again at the End

The ball seemed to hang in the air an eternity. UC Irvine’s Marek Ondera thought it was in. Jerry Green felt a pang when it bounced off the rim.

Long Beach State players were just relieved, having survived for a 64-63 victory in front of a season-high 3,742 in the Bren Center Saturday.

Green lay on the floor, face down, until teammate Mark Gottschalk and Long Beach’s Ramel Lloyd helped him up. A moment earlier, Green had been jetting up court, as he had done much of the game. He had the ball and was looking for an opening.

But Long Beach’s Charles O’Neal knocked the ball loose. Green dived and flipped it to Ondera, whose 15-foot baseline jumper hit the back of the rim at the buzzer.

“I put a little more arc on it because there were two defenders in my face,” Ondera said. “It felt good. I thought it was in.”

When it bounced off, Long Beach (8-9, 5-2) was back in first place in the Big West Conference’s Western Division, a half-game ahead of UC Santa Barbara. Irvine was left in last place after a fifth consecutive loss--four of which have been decided in the final minutes.

“Whew, it would have been nice to win that one,” Irvine Coach Pat Douglass said. “I don’t know what to say.

“We played hard for 40 minutes. We have to win one of those close ones.”

The Anteaters were on the verge of doing just that. The sequence of events came rapid-fire.

Green sank a jumper just inside the three-point line with 31 seconds left for a 63-62 lead.

“I thought it was a three,” said Green, who scored 21 points. “I didn’t see my feet. But it felt like a three.”

Long Beach countered with a play for 6-foot-11 center Mate Milisa, who was double-teamed by Adam Stetson and Ben Jones. Milisa turned right and dropped a 13-foot leaning jumper from the right side with eight seconds left.

“It was very courageous shot,” Long Beach Coach Wayne Morgan said. “I thought he was fouled twice.”

Milisa had no time to admire his handiwork, as Green was off. He made eight of 14 shots and had tormented the 49ers in transition all night. Green slowed at the free-throw line and O’Neal closed from behind.

“My play was not the biggest play,” said Milisa, who had 15 points. “Charles’ play was the biggest play. He saved the game for us.”

It left Green flat, literally.

“It hurt,” Green said. “I never saw the guy.

“To be honest, I don’t think Long Beach is the best team [in this conference]. They are in the top four, top three.”

Green, a 6-foot-3 guard, certainly made the Long Beach look run-of-the-mill. He dominated at times, slicing and dicing the 49er defense. Stetson scored 15 points and Ondera 14. But it was Green who did the most damage.

On one play, he grabbed a rebound and went baseline-to-baseline, through four Long Beach defenders, for a layup. A moment later, he came stutter-stepping up court and hit a five-foot runner over 6-8 Richie Smalls.

Green and Stetson were part of a 9-0 run that gave Irvine a 48-42 lead with 13:15 left.

“[Green] looks a lot older than he is,” Ondera said.

Said Morgan: “He would have my vote for freshman of the year.”

The 49ers had Lloyd to counter. He scored only four points in an overtime loss to Cal State Fullerton Thursday, but made eight of 14 shots and finished with 18 points.

Lloyd hit a jumper to make it 48-44. Milisa than sank back-to-back jumpers, the last a three-pointer, to tie the score, 49-49, with 10 minutes left.

There were six lead changes from that point, and almost a seventh.

“I thought it was in,” a dejected Stetson mumbled. “I thought it was all in.”