Ethington Helps Irvine End Seven-Game Skid

Faced with a situation it never expected to be in Wednesday night, UC Irvine took one step to salvage its season.

Greg Ethington scored 16 points and had a career-high 13 rebounds, and the Anteaters ended a seven-game losing streak with an 80-71 Big West Conference victory over Long Beach State in front of 1,825 at Irvine.

Irvine (10-13, 5-9) grabbed the lead midway through the first half and never trailed again as all five starters reached double figures. Jeff Gloger scored 16 points, Adam Parada and Ross Schraeder each scored 11 and Mike Efevberha had 10.

“It’s definitely a better atmosphere in [the locker room] after the game,” Gloger said. “All we can ask for is to come out here and play hard and we did that. Hopefully that will get the ball rolling.”

Irvine, whose losing streak was its longest in five years, started the second half with a 9-0 run to push its lead to 52-35.

Long Beach State (6-17, 4-10) cut the deficit to 58-50, but Gloger made two layups, the second after stealing the inbounds pass, to push the lead back to double digits.

The 49ers lost their sixth in a row despite making a season-high 13 three-point baskets. Jibril Hodges had 17 points and Kevin Roberts had 16.

-- Eric Stephens