UC Irvine Can’t Hold Lead Against Cal Poly

Steve Geary came off the bench to score 15 points as Cal Poly San Luis Obispo defeated UC Irvine, 50-47, on Saturday night before 3,032 at San Luis Obispo.

Geary’s layup with 4:27 remaining put Cal Poly, 11-6 overall and 5-4 in the Big West Conference, up 45-44. Geary made a three-point basket and Brandon Beeson made two free throws to put the Mustangs up, 50-44, with 1:38 to play.

UC Irvine’s Mike Hood made a three-point shot with 1:23 remaining to pull the Anteaters within 50-47, but neither team scored the rest of the way.

Hood and Adam Parada scored 11 each to lead UC Irvine (14-6, 7-2), which is now tied with Cal State Northridge for first in the conference.

The Anteaters outrebounded Cal Poly, 49-34, but committed 19 turnovers to Cal Poly’s eight.

Cal Poly trailed 27-21 at halftime but used a 15-2 run in the second half to take a 41-35 lead.

Associated Press

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Cal State Northridge 84, UC Riverside 69--The Matadors pulled into a first-place tie in the Big West thanks to a suffocating defense that forced Riverside into 22 turnovers at Northridge.

Before a spirited 1,430 at the Matadome, Northridge (8-10, 7-2) limited the Highlanders to 35.3% shooting and slowly pulled away in the second half. The Matadors, who have won five in a row and six of seven, shot 60.9% in the second half and also made 32 of 48 free throws in a foul-plagued game.

“It feels good,” said Northridge guard Markus Carr about being in first. “We’ve worked real hard in practice and we’ve been able to be successful in most of these games.

“We knew we had the talent to do good things. Lately we’ve been able to do that.”

Northridge won despite a subpar game from Carr, who had 14 points but only on two-for-11 shooting.

Lionel Benjamin had 13 points and Curtis Slaughter and Jermar Welch each had 12.

Leading 37-35 at halftime, the Matadors scored six of the first eight points to push the lead to six. Riverside (6-11, 3-6) pulled within 43-42 on Lloyd Cook’s layup along the baseline, but Carr answered with five points in a 9-0 run.

Eric Stephens

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Pepperdine 96, San Diego 91--Craig Lewis made a 12-foot jumper with 29.7 seconds left and Pepperdine held on to win a West Coast Conference game in double-overtime before 5,267 at San Diego.

Lewis’ shot gave Pepperdine (13-6, 6-0) a 93-91 lead. San Diego’s Andre Laws missed two three-point attempts and the Waves made three free throws in the final 18 seconds.

Pepperdine’s eighth consecutive win came after the Waves missed several last-second chances, including four errant shots in the final eight seconds of the first overtime.

The game was tight throughout, with 28 lead changes and 19 ties in the second half and both overtime periods.

Laws led San Diego (11-8, 3-3) with 30 points.

Cedric Suitt came up big for Pepperdine in the final minutes of regulation, blocking two shots, including Laws’ drive at the buzzer.The block was Suitt’s 10th, tying a conference record set by Santa Clara’s Kurt Rambis in 1977.

Santa Clara 74, Loyola Marymount 64--Steve Ross scored 31 points, and Kyle Bailey added 20 for the Broncos before 3,000 at Santa Clara.

Ross made six three-pointers and nine free throws, while Bailey went 14 for 16 from the free-throw line. Jason Westphal had 13 rebounds for the Broncos (8-11, 3-3), who won despite shooting 32% and nearly blowing a large lead.

Kent Dennis had 17 points and six rebounds for Loyola Marymount (9-11, 2-4).

The Lions had 17 turnovers.

Pacific 82, Cal State Fullerton 48--Junior point guard Demetrius Jackson had 13 points and five assists in a Big West Conference victory before 3,283 at Stockton.

Mike Hahn and Eli Kiedrowski also reached double figures with 10 points for the Tigers (13-6, 5-4). Pacific made 56% of its field-goal attempts to record its most lopsided victory of the season.

Forward Pape Sow had game-high totals of 15 points and 11 rebounds for Fullerton (4-14, 1-8).

Derick Andrew began the second half with a three-pointer that brought Fullerton within 40-29, but the Titans would get no closer.

Associated Press

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UC Santa Barbara 82, Long Beach State 50--Mark Hull and Branduinn Fullove each made three of UC Santa Barbara’s season-high 10 three-pointers and the Gauchos outscored Long Beach State by 29 points in the first half before 3,426 in a Big West game at Santa Barbara.

Jacoby Atako and Nick Jones, who led the Gauchos (12-6, 6-3) with 19 points, each made two three-pointers in a first half in which Santa Barbara shot 48% and opened a 46-17 halftime lead.

Hull and Fullove both had 13 points.

Tony Darden led Long Beach State (6-14, 2-7) with 13 points.

John Klima