UC Irvine fends off Cal State Fullerton for 3-0 start to Big West play
IRVINE — When the UC Irvine and Cal State Fullerton men’s basketball teams get together, no lead is typically safe.
The Anteaters were reminded of that again on Thursday night, but they managed to gather themselves enough over the final two minutes to pull out a 75-67 victory over the Titans in a Big West Conference game at the Bren Events Center.
Fullerton erased a 15-point second-half deficit and briefly took a one-point lead with 2:34 remaining, but UCI closed with a 9-0 run to escape with its third straight win to open conference play.
The previous six meetings between UCI and Fullerton were decided by five points or fewer.
“We’ve seen that before from them,” UCI coach Russell Turner said of the Titans, who upset the top-seeded Anteaters in a Big West Tournament semifinal last March. “I didn’t think we responded well as they were cutting the lead and building their own lead, but we did respond at the end.”
Fullerton backup center Zachary Visentin scored on a tip-in to move the Titans ahead, 67-66.
The Anteaters (10-5 overall, 3-0 Big West) regained the lead on the next possession on two free throws by Justin Hohn, and Pierre Crockrell II later sank back-to-back runners in the lane to make it 72-67 with 44 seconds left.
“It was frustrating to see our intensity drop the way that it felt like it did throughout the second half as they made their run,” Turner said. “But give Fullerton credit, they have belief and they keep coming, and that’s a credit to their head coach and their program.”
The Titans couldn’t answer after taking the lead, mostly because they missed all nine of their 3-point tries in the final two minutes after shooting 7 for 13 from behind the arc in the first 38 minutes.
“I thought we did our job for the last 10 minutes,” Fullerton coach Dedrique Taylor said. “We came back, but if you play that way throughout the course of the game, which we’ve shown we can do, you can expect good things to happen.”
Derin Saran scored a season-high 17 points off the bench for UCI. Hohn also scored 17 points and Crockrell matched his season high with 12 points for the Anteaters, who shot 51% from the field and 7 for 17 from 3-point range.
DJ Brewton scored 19 points and Donovan Oday added 13 points off the bench for Fullerton (8-7, 1-3), which was coming off an overtime win against Hawaii on Saturday night in Honolulu.
Foul trouble played a role in Fullerton’s slow start.
Tory San Antonio made his first two field-goal attempts for Fullerton before his second foul sent him to the bench less than five minutes into the game.
Max Jones entered the game for the Titans, but he picked up his second foul with 11:11 remaining in the half, sending two of the three leading scorers for the Titans to the bench with early foul trouble.
“Our group, we weren’t as focused as we have been in the past,” Taylor said. “When we’re not focused and we’re worried about other stuff, other than winning, it distracts us and it keeps us from doing our job.”
San Antonio and Jones checked back in with 7:17 remaining in the half and Fullerton trailing 18-13, but Hohn stretched the lead to 23-15 with his third 3-pointer of the half without a miss.
Jones was whistled for his third foul with 3:20 remaining and headed back to the bench shortly before the Anteaters took their biggest lead of the half at 29-20.
Oday, who came in 4 for 19 from behind the arc this season, made his second 3-pointer of the half to cut the deficit to four with 50 seconds left.
Bent Leuchten sank another 3-pointer for UCI with three seconds remaining and the Anteaters took the 35-28 advantage into the break.
“I thought the three that Bent made right before halftime was big for him and for us,” Turner said.
UCI shot 5 for 8 from 3-point range in the opening half, while the Titans shot 4 for 8.