Dec. 22, 2002

Box Score

Moraga, CA - The Saint Mary's men's basketball team suffered a 62-50 loss to the UC Irvine Anteaters on Sunday afternoon from McKeon Pavilion. Daniel Kickert led the Gaels with a game-high 19 points. The loss drops Saint Mary's to 5-4 on the season, while UC Irvine improves to 4-3 overall.

UC Irvine freshman guard Mike Efevberha paced the Anteaters with 17 points. He was 4-for-9 from the field and 7-of-8 from the foul line in the game. Joining Efevberha in double figures was Jordan Harris, who had 10 points.

After Saint Mary's took a 6-5 lead three minutes into the game, UC Irvine would allow just one free throw over the next seven minute to take a commanding 17-7 lead with just under 10 minutes remaining in the first half. The Anteaters would again lead by 10 (24-14), before Saint Mary's cut the lead to 24-20 with four minutes left in the half. But after a made lay in by Efevberha and a three pointer by Harris, the Anteaters led 29-20. UCI would take a 33-24 lead into the locker room.

UC Irvine would come out in the second half and extend its lead to 39-25 at the 16:12 mark. Saint Mary's would battle back to within four points (46-42), when Kickert hit a three-pointer with 7:31 remaining. Frederic Adjiwanou, who finished with seven points and a game-high eight rebounds, missed two free throws that would have cut the lead to two points. Following the missed free throws, UC Irvine would use a 14-3 run to open its largest lead of the game, 60-45, with 1:09 remaining.

The Gaels shot 37.2 percent (16-43) from the floor and struggled from three-point range, making just 2-of-11 attempts. UC Irvine was held to 33.3 percent (17-51) shooting from the floor, but converted 5-of-14 attempts from long range, all in the first half. SMC had the edge on the boards, 34-33.

Saint Mary's entered the game shooting a West Coast Conference best, 76.0 percent from the free throw line. However, the Gaels would convert just 16-of-24 (66.7 %) attempts from the charity stripe, while UC Irvine made 23-of-27 from the line.

Saint Mary's will return to action on Saturday, December 28 when it takes on Cal Poly. The game is scheduled to tip-off at 7:05 PM in McKeon Pavilion.