UCI upsets 49ers, 84-81

UC Irvines's basketball team upset Cal State Long Beach to regain sole possession of first place in the Big West Conference Monday night in the Pyramid.

The 84-81 defeat was the first handed to the 49ers (14- 8, 9-4, in conference) in Long Beach by UC Irvine (13-7, 9-3) in 10 years.

A game of streaks, the 49ers took a 23-9 lead in the first 10 minutes of the game, but the Anteaters, who have played strong all year came back to take a 41-33 lead into the locker room at half-time.

The 49ers scored the first six points in the second half to pull within two, but UC Irvine drilled seven threepointers out of nine attempts to help expand their lead to 17 points under six minutes to play.

Without the conference's leading scorer, guard James Cotton, who has been out for two games due to stomach problems, the 49ers fought back behind the hot hand of guard Rasul Salahuddin.

He nailed two consecutive three-pointers in the last two minutes of play to keep the 49ers decidedly close and UC Irvine made only one of its final six free throw attempts to leave the final shot up to the 49ers for a chance to send the game into overtime, down by only three points.

A battle for the rebound ensued after a missed free throw by Salahuddin, bodies sprawled all over the court in an attempt to gain possession with less than 10 seconds remaining in the game.

After the possession arrow retained the ball for the 49ers, Salahuddin threw up a shot at the buzzer from four feet behind the three-point arc. The shot fell short and so did the hopes of the 49ers continuing their six conference game winning streak.

"Obviously I'm proud of my team," said 49er head coach Seth Greenberg referring to the valiant come back. "It's just hard to beat a team that makes 15 three-pointers in a game," he said.

Salahuddin reached a milestone Monday night, breaking the record for most steals in one season at Cal State Long Beach with 76.

He also had a career-high 24 points .