Anteaters win, secure fourth in Big West Conference
MEN’S BASKETBALL
UC Irvine 88, UC Davis 85
DAVIS — Sophomore Will Davis and senior Mike Wilder both scored 18 points to lead the visiting Anteaters in the Big West Conference game Saturday.
The win secures fourth place for UCI (18-14, 11-7 in conference). The Anteaters will face fifth-place Hawaii in the opening round of the Big West Conference Tournament on Thursday at approximately 8:30 p.m. at Honda Center.
UCI split with Hawaii, a first-year Big West member, this season. UCI won at home, 68-64, on Jan. 9, then fell in Honolulu, 78-72, one month later.
Davis had 12 rebounds and two blocked shots for UCI, while Wilder netted four of nine three-point tries and added nine rebounds.
Chris McNealy (15 points), Daman Starring (12 points, including two free throws with six seconds left) and Alex Young (11 points and four assists) also helped UCI pull through.
Davis (14-16, 9-9) fell to sixth place.
UCI posted a 47-35 rebounding advantage against the Aggies, who made eight of 15 three-point tries (53.3%).
UCI senior Adam Folker did not play for a second straight game.
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BASEBALL
UC Irvine 8, BYU 3
PROVO, Utah — Junior pitcher Andrew Morales improved to 5-0 as the visiting Anteaters salvaged the finale of a three-game nonconference series Sunday.
Morales, who was 21-1 in two seasons at Rio Hondo Community College, is now 26-1 as a collegian. He allowed two runs and three hits in 6 1/3 innings. He struck out one and walked four.
Sophomore first baseman Connor Spencer was three for five with two runs batted in, while senior catcher Ronnie Shaeffer was two for four with a home run and three RBIs for the No. 21-ranked Anteaters (12-4).
Senior right fielder Scott Gottschling added two hits to the ‘Eaters’ 11-hit attack.
BYU is 9-7.
UCI returns home to face San Diego State on Tuesday at 6:30 p.m.
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Doubleheader
COSTA MESA — Scott Simmons improved to 6-1 as host Vanguard earned a 4-3 win in Game 2 to split two Golden State Athletic Conference games with Concordia on Saturday.
After Concordia won the first game, 10-4, the Lions (13-9, 7-9 in conference) built a 4-0 lead, then held on in the second game. Simmons allowed seven hits and two runs in five strong innings to earn the victory.
Thomas Mobley, Ellis Whitman and John Schwer all drove in runs for Vanguard and Kevin Ponzo earned his ninth save of the season for the Lions.
Concordia is 18-9, 11-6.
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Riverside 12, Orange Coast 0
COSTA MESA — The host Pirates were blanked for just the second time in 111 games in the Orange Empire Conference action Saturday.
OCC (14-6, 2-3 in conference) managed just five hits as Riverside improved to 13-6, 3-2.
OCC plays host to Saddleback in a conference game Tuesday at 2 p.m.
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WOMEN’S BASKETBALL
UC Santa Barbara 49, UC Irvine 41
SANTA BARBARA — Junior Camille Buckley recorded her Big West Conference-leading 13th double-double with 11 points and 12 rebounds for the visiting Anteaters on Saturday.
UCI ends its season, its first under Coach Doug Oliver, 9-21, 5-13 in conference. The Anteaters did not qualify for the eight-team conference tournament that begins Tuesday at UCI.
Buckley was two for 11 from the field, while junior guard Jennifer Tsurumoto was two or 13. UCI shot 23.1% from the field (12 for 52).
UCSB is 15-15, 11-7.
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MEN’S TENNIS
UNLV 5, UC Irvine 2
LAS VEGAS, Nev. — Shuhei Shibahara and Jonathan Hammel earned singles victories to account for the visiting Anteaters’ points in the nonconference match Saturday.
Shibahara topped Charlie Alvarado, 6-2, 7-5, at No. 4 singles, while Hammel outlasted Bernard Shoeman, 6-3, 3-6, 6-3, at No. 5 singles.
Caryl Hernandez and Tyler Pham won at No. 3 doubles, but UNLV earned the doubles point.
UCI is 2-11. UNLV is 8-4.