The UC Irvine Men’s Basketball team (15-8, 9-2) fell short in overtime against Cal State Long Beach (14-10, 8-4), 93-88, on Saturday, Feb. 4.
After falling by 17 points to the Anteaters during the previous game on Jan. 7, CSULB avenged that loss and have now won seven of their last eight games, with six of those being consecutive wins.
In the first half, the Beach performed their best, working out of a high-low offense. They kept their eyes locked on teammates who cut through to the baseline to create lanes to the basket.
Irvine redshirt junior guard Justin Hohn kept the ‘Eaters’ energy, deflecting a cross-court pass and taking it all the way to the basket and giving them an early 15-6 advantage. The Beach had a scoring drought for five minutes, allowing UCI to go on a 10-0 run.
CSULB snapped back after a couple minutes with the help of their talented backcourt sophomore guard Jadon Jones and junior guard Marcus Tsohonis. The duo made a huge impact in transition, as Tsohonis protected the rim with a block and pushed the ball up the court, kicking it to Jones for a three-pointer.
The Beach bumped the score to a one point deficit, 15-14, with a little over 12 minutes to go. This comeback led to difficulty with shooting for Irvine as they missed five straight shots.
Although Irvine had the advantage of a higher three-point shooting percentage, the ‘Eaters struggled to perform defensively in the first half after the Beach collected 10 offensive rebounds. Luckily for the ‘Eaters, CSULB only scored off two of those possessions.
UCI junior guard Dawson Baker dove for the ball on Long Beach’s side of the court to prevent a lost possession and hustled back down the court, burying a three and giving UCI a 32-23 advantage.
With under a minute to go, Jones capped off an 8-2 run, cutting the CSULB deficit to 36-33 after hitting a three-point shot. Shortly after, CSULB let the clock run down before giving the last shot to sophomore forward Lassina Traore at the top of the key for a buzzer beater. The half ended with the Anteaters holding on to a one point lead, 36-35.
Reentering the match after the intermission, the Beach had a slow start. The Anteaters scored nine unanswered points, including back-to-back second chance points from redshirt sophomore forward Devin Tillis, bringing the score difference to double digits.
The guard duo of Jones and Tsohonis returned for CSULB in the second half to boost the momentum of their teammates. Jones’ lockdown perimeter defense resulted in deflected steals that were passed to Tsohonis to go to work in the paint.
The Beach went on a 9-0 run at the 12 minute mark. Not too long after, Tsohonis fought through traffic for a one-handed layup to cut the lead to one, 55-54.
After a seesaw battle, Baker approached the charity stripe twice to add three points to the ‘Eaters score with a little under four minutes to go, giving them a 70-66 lead. Less than a minute later, the Beach tied the game at 70-70 after Tsohonis splashed a mid-range shot.
Davis made the match a three-point deficit, 78-75, after hitting two free throws for the Anteaters. On the next possession, Jones penetrated the defense toward the middle to quickly pass out to sophomore forward Tobias Rotegaard for a difficult three to tie the game with 30 seconds left, 78-78.
Only four seconds remained when Long Beach State fouled Baker to give UCI two free points and take the lead. Looking to score, CSULB sophomore guard Tone Hunter took the ball coast to coast for a foul and banked in two clutch free throws to send the game to overtime, 80-80.
UCI won the jump ball and instantly sent it to Baker in the corner for a triple. About two minutes passed before senior guard Pierre Crockrell II cut behind the defense for an open shot to tie the score at 85 each.
Long Beach State went on a 8-3 run for the remaining minute and a half. The game ended with a high lob from Hunter to sophomore forward Aboubacar Traore for a dunk to get the audience off their seats, cementing the Beach’s win, 93-88.
Irvine was led by Baker’s season high 23 points, including shooting 9-11 at the free-throw line. Long Beach secured the win with 28 points from Tsohonis and 16 points along with 20 rebounds from Lassina Traore.
The Anteaters will return home to the Bren Events Center to compete against Cal Poly on Thursday, Feb. 9 at 7 p.m.
Jazlyn Flores is a Sports Staff Writer. She can be reached at jazlynpf@uci.edu.