The UCI Men’s Basketball team (15-6, 8-1) managed a convincing win against Long Beach State (13-8, 5-4), 72-61, at Walter Pyramid in Long Beach on Thursday, Jan. 25.
Despite two injuries to freshman guard Derin Saran and sophomore forward Hayden Welling, the ‘Eaters managed to remain as one of two teams, the other being UC San Diego, with only one loss in Big West conference play.
UCI fifth-year guard Pierre Crockrell II stuffed the box score stats and managed his third double-double of the year with 12 points, 11 assists, five steals and three rebounds. In addition to a big game, Crockrell II also managed to break into UCI’s top 10 all-time assists leaderboard with 302 assists. His excellent performance was supported by a large breadth of impressive performances: UCI senior guard Andre Henry put up 12 points alongside graduate student Dylan Thoerner, who netted 13 points off the bench, and freshman forward Carter Welling managed eight points, six boards, and a whopping five blocks. Throughout the game, the ‘Eaters managed 21 points off turnovers and 15 fast break points. They were in total control, not allowing a single lead change in the game.
The ‘Eaters started red-hot with back-to-back threes from Henry that gave the ‘Eaters a 12-5 lead. Long Beach State was able to respond to the ‘Eaters’ early success with a three-pointer from junior guard Jadon Jones and an emphatic dunk by junior forward Lassina Traore, bringing the score to 12-10.
However, Long Beach State fell into a very uncharacteristic scoring drought considering the offensive personnel, which includes senior guard Marcus Tsohonis, who averages 17.6 points per game and three other players averaging above ten points.
An outstanding performance from the ‘Eaters on both ends of the floor spelled a recipe for astronomical success.
At the nine-minute mark, a fastbreak layup by UCI junior center Bent Leuchten cemented a 7-0 run for the ‘Eaters, 28-13. Shortly after, a foul by Henry on Tsohonis finally broke the scoring drought with a pair of free throws, but Long Beach was still plagued by a three-minute field goal drought.
With four minutes of play remaining, the ‘Eaters gained one of the largest leads of the night, 37-17, following a 9-4 scoring run.
The second half began with five consecutive field goals made by both teams until a miss from Tsohonis ended the flurry, 50-31. With a large lead, the ‘Eaters were not caught off guard and dialed in the second half.
At 13:14, Thoerner drained his third three-pointer for the night that put UCI up 55-33, their largest lead for the night. However, the ‘Eaters were not out of the woods just yet. Despite the lead, Long Beach State didn’t flounder. For the first time in the game, Long Beach gained favorable momentum that led to an 8-0 run spearheaded by three Tsohonis free throws, an in-the-paint jumper by senior forward Amari Stroud and a three-pointer by freshman guard Varick Lewis.
The ‘Eaters were without a basket until the 8-minute mark when UCI redshirt senior guard Justin Hohn ended the drought with a crucial mid-range two-pointer and a fastbreak layup to put the ‘Eaters ahead, 61-45. However, Long Beach was still unfettered and Tsohonis led the team with a three-pointer to cut the lead to thirteen, at 61-48.
An altercation between Carter and Stroud resulted in two technical fouls. That in conjunction with back-to-back fouls by Thoerner gave Long Beach four free throws, two of which were made, making the score 66-52.
Crockrell II responded with successive layups in the paint, 70-52, and Long Beach was forced to take a timeout with under four minutes of play.
In the final minutes, Long Beach mounted a respectable 7-0 run and cut down the lead to eleven points. However, there simply was not enough time left to build a cohesive run, and a few misses would seal Long Beaches’ fate and settle the game at 72-61.
The ‘Eaters faced off against Cal State Northridge (13-8, 4-5) at the Bren Events Center on Saturday, Jan. 27, and came out successful with a 77-72 victory.
The ‘Eaters took on Cal Poly at the Mott Athletics Center on Thursday, Feb. 1 and won, 73-59, and netted another win against Hawai’i, 93-68 at the Bren Events Center Saturday, Feb.3 improving their record to 10-1, standing alone in first place in Big West Conference play.
Jason Garcia Escobar is a Sports Staff Writer. He can be reached at jasonag3@uci.edu.