College Roundup: VU men clinch GSAC title

MEN’S BASKETBALL

Vanguard 69, The Master’s 61

The host Lions clinched the program’s first outright Golden State Athletic Conference championship since the 1988-89 season behind 25 points from senior guard Preston Wynne on Tuesday.

Wynne made five three-pointers, while junior Keith Mason chipped in 14 points and eight rebounds for No. 9-ranked Vanguard (23-5, 10-3 in conference).

The Lions came in with a two-game lead with two games to go in the conference season. They have two regular-season games left, but close the GSAC campaign on Saturday at home against San Diego Christian.

Vanguard posted a 41-33 edge in rebounding and 20-14 in turnovers to help overcome 36.8% shooting from the field.

TMC (18-10, 6-7) shot 44.7% from the field, including 50% in the second half, when they outscored the Lions, 37-27.

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WOMEN’S BASKETBALL

Vanguard 82, The Master’s 65

Senior Nicole Ballestero led five Lions starters in double figures with 19 points as they remain perfect on the season with the Golden State Athletic Conference home victory Tuesday.

Senior Taylor Belmont had 16 points and 11 assists, while Samantha Doucette added 15 points.

Leigha Bednar had 13 points and Ashleigh Anderson chipped in 11 for the No. 1-ranked winners (24-0, 13-0 in conference).

Vanguard clinched the outright regular-season title and the No. 1 seed in the GSAC tournament on Saturday.

The Master’s, ranked No. 7, is now 21-7, 9-4.

Vanguard closes out the regular season on Saturday at home against San Diego Christian at 5:30 p.m.

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BASEBALL

UC Irvine 3, Loyola Marymount 2 (11 innings)

Freshman Evan Cassolato singled in the winning run with one out in the 11th inning after Jonathan Munoz’s pinch-single in the ninth forced extra innings in the nonconference game Tuesday at Anteater Ballpark.

Six UCI pitchers combined to surrender nine hits and no earned runs to lower the staff earned-run average from 1.46 to 1.25 after eight games. Senior Jimmy Litchfield got the final out of the 11th to earn the win.

It was the third straight victory for UCI (5-3) and win No.1,001 in Division I for Coach Mike Gillespie.

UCI had two hits heading into the ninth.

Cassolato was two for three with an RBI to pace UCI’s six-hit attack.

LMU is 2-6.

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Orange Coast 4, Southwestern 0

CHULA VISTA — The visiting Pirates improved to 12-2 by posting their eighth consecutive victory on Tuesday.

No statistics were available at press time.

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WOMEN’S GOLF

UC Irvine Invitational

SANTA ANA — UC Irvine senior Ronnie Valerio topped the eight-place Anteaters with an individual finish of 27th at the event concluded Tuesday at the Santa Ana Country Club.

UCI shot 922 as a team over 54 holes in the 13-team tournament that was won by Stanford (864).

Valerio finished at 14-over-par 230. UCI’s Sara Banke (32nd in 231) and Kaley In (36th in 232) also finished in the top 50.

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MEN’S GOLF

Jones Invitational

SOMIS, Calif. — The UC Irvine men finished ninth in the event that concluded Tuesday at Saticoy Country Club.

UCI’s 54-hole team total was 931, 50 shots behind victorious San Diego State.

Sophomore Jacob Schulze led the Anteaters with a 36th-place finish at 233.