One Jumper, Two Viewpoints

Here’s reflections of both coaches after UC Irvine’s Jerry Green hit a 15-foot jumper with four seconds to go to enable the Anteaters to pull out a 58-57 victory in a Big West Conference men’s basketball at Long Beach State Saturday.

The game featured several lead changes in the final minute.

“I had my acceptance speech ready with 40 seconds to go,” Irvine Coach Pat Douglass said. “I had my congratulatory speech ready with 20 seconds to go. I then had my acceptance speech at the end.”

Said Long Beach State’s Wayne Morgan: “Our kids played their hearts out. Irvine played hard too. Both teams played good defense for 40 minutes. They were fortunate to make the last shot. If we had more time, maybe we’d make the last shot.”

BLACKED OUT AGAIN

For the second time in a week, Fox television executives have passed on showing a UC Irvine-Utah State men’s basketball game. The teams play Thursday night in Logan.

Instead, Fox Sports Net2 will televise Long Beach State at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo--a game that starts at 5:30 p.m. The Irvine-Utah State rematch begins at 6 p.m. on the West Coast.

The teams’ first meeting at the Bren Center last Wednesday was only televised on a delayed basis by the Irvine-area cable provider. Irvine won, 56-51.

Irvine’s campus radio station, KUCI-FM (88.9) will carry the game Thursday. It can also be heard on the Internet at https://www.kuci.uci.edu/bball.html

ANTEATER FANATICS

A large Irvine contingent swelled the crowd at the Pyramid to 2,956 Saturday.

Anteater fans took over the section behind the basket used by Long Beach in the first half and appeared to distract the 49ers. Crowds at the Pyramid have not been that large this season and spectators sitting in that part of the arena have been sparse, at best, a Long Beach official said.

But Saturday night, each time the 49ers got off a first-half shot, it was into a crowd of yellow and blue T-shirts. Long Beach made only two of its first 17 field-goal attempts.

Anteater fans have played a big role in each of the team’s last two victories.

Supporters came out 5,231 strong for the Utah State game last week, forcing Bren Center officials to sell standing-room-only tickets.

“[It] was the biggest game ever in the history of Orange County basketball,” said Irvine fan Peter Pham, a phone company executive. “It was so loud in the Bren, you could hardly stand it. And when we rushed the floor, you’d think we were Duke. Who says UCI has no spirit?”

BY THE NUMBERS

* The UC Irvine men’s basketball team (17-2, 9-0) finally showed up in the ESPN/USA Today top 25 poll, earning three votes in the “others” category. Utah State (19-3, 8-1), another “other,” got 12 votes.

But in the Associated Press top 25 poll, again among the “others,” Irvine got 21 votes and Utah State got four.

* Before its game against Utah State last week, the combined record of teams that Irvine has defeated this season was 98-168.

* Utah State has won 19 in a row at home.

TEST FOR FULLERTON

The Cal State Fullerton softball team will get an early test in its home opener when the Titans face top-ranked UCLA in a doubleheader at 5 p.m. Wednesday at the Titan softball complex.

The Titans are ranked 14th in the National Fastpitch Softball Coaches Assn. preseason poll.

Fullerton has its top three pitchers back, along with six regulars, from a team that finished 45-15 and won the Big West Conference championship last season.

The Titans also have gotten a boost with the addition of two transfers, sophomore catcher Jenny Topping and junior infielder Shawna Robinson.

Topping led the nation in home runs, with 24, and runs batted in, with 90, last season at Washington.

Robinson was an All-Big 12 Conference first-team selection in 1999 at Missouri. She batted .376 and stole 22 bases in 22 attempts that season.

The three returning pitchers--Jodie Cox, Gina Oaks and Christy Robitaille--had a combined 1.58 earned-run average in 2000. Cox was 17-4, Oaks 14-4 and Robitaille 14-7. Robitaille is sidelined for at least two more weeks with a leg injury.

The Titans have gotten off to a good start, winning the New Mexico Diamond Invitational in Albuquerque last weekend with a 5-1 record.

Cox was 3-0 with two shutouts in four appearances. She struck out 32 in 22 innings.

Monica Lucatero finished the weekend with a .632 batting average on 12 hits in 19 at-bats. She had nine RBIs.

Yasmin Mossadeghi had five home runs, and Amanda Hockett was 10 of 15 with one homer. Mossadeghi tied for the conference lead in homers last season with 13.

Fullerton’s only loss was to host New Mexico, a team the Titans had beaten earlier in the tournament.

“I was especially pleased with the offense,” said Titan Coach Michelle Gromacki, whose team hit 10 home runs. “We’re looking forward to playing UCLA.”

UCLA won all five games it played in the Spartan Early Bird Classic at San Jose State last weekend. Bruin pitcher Amanda Freed, who played at Pacifica High, is 2-0 after pitching a three-hit shutout Sunday against Cal State Northridge.

TITANS SELECTED

Three Cal State Fullerton baseball players have been selected among the top 50 prospects in this year’s freshman class by Baseball America.

Pitcher Wes Littleton was ranked 13th, pitcher Darric Merrell 35th and outfielder Kyle Boyer 45th.

Mike Rouse, a shortstop and designated hitter, was rated 38th among the nation’s top sophomores. Pitcher Kirk Saarloos was rated 24th in the senior class and second baseman David Bacani 40th.

AROUND THE COUNTY

The Vanguard baseball team has moved its home opener today from its campus field to Whittier College. The home game Friday will be played at Cal Baptist. The moves were made necessary because construction of new dormitories near the left-field line of the Vanguard baseball field has made the playing surface unsafe, according to a school spokesman. . . A benefit dinner to raise funds for the Long Beach State baseball team is scheduled at 6 p.m. Feb. 26 at Kelly’s Restaurant in Long Beach. For information call (562) 985-4661. . . Axel Margaritha, a 6-10 center for the men’s basketball team at Hope International (10-16, 2-10), leads the Golden State Athletic Conference in rebounding at 10.9 per game. . .Concordia’s baseball team (3-0) is off to its best start in nine seasons. Last week the Eagles beat Cal State Dominguez Hills and Cal State Los Angeles, two NCAA Division II teams. . .UC Irvine opens its first season of women’s water polo at 11:30 a.m. Saturday at the UC San Diego tournament against Long Beach State.

Staff writers Lon Eubanks and Chris Foster contributed to this report.

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