RIVERSIDE, Calif. --- UC Irvine battled back from a 16-point deficit in the second half but UC Riverside pulled out a 72-69, overtime victory in the Big West Conference regular-season finale for both teams at Riverside Saturday night.
UCI freshman Travis Souza hit a three with 4.4 seconds left in regulation to pull the Anteaters even at 62-62 and send the game into overtime.
The Highlanders scored the first seven points of the extra period and held off UCI to improve to 14-16 overall and 7-9 in the Big West.
Phil Martin led UCR with 27 points, including 17 in the second half. Kareem Nitoto added 13 points and nine rebounds while Robert Smith had 11 points, including five in overtime.
Chris McNealy led UCI (11-19, 6-10) with 19 points, hitting 8 of 13 shots, and added six rebounds and four assists. Derick Flowers had 15 points and Adam Folker registered 10 points and 10 rebounds.
Freshman center Will Davis II, who had eight rebounds, also had three blocked shots to set the UCI single-season record of 54, breaking the previous mark of 52 set by Dee Boyer in the 1993-94 season.
The Highlanders scored the first nine points of the game and led 36-26 at halftime.
UCR built a 44-28 lead on a basket by Martin with 16:05 remaining in regulation before the Anteaters rallied to tie the game on Souza's three.
Smith scored five of the Highlanders' first seven points to open overtime but UCI closed the gap to 69-66 on a three by Flowers with two minutes left in the extra session.
Martin hit 1 of 2 free throws with 6.2 seconds remaining in overtime but Flowers nailed another trey with 1.3 seconds left to pull the Anteaters within one at 70-69. Martin then hit two free throws with two/tenths of a second remaining for the final margin.
Both teams shot 37 percent from the field but UCR hit 28 of 40 free throws to UCI's 13 of 22. The Anteaters outrebounded the Highlanders, 48-38, but UCR outscored UCI 18-3 off turnovers. The Anteaters had 14 turnovers and the Highlanders nine.
"I am proud of my guys, who didn't quit in coming back," UCI head coach Russell Turner said. "These guys have a lot of fight in them and play together.
"I am not pleased with how we can give up the first nine points of the game and the first seven in overtime," he added.
UCI is the No. 7 seed for next week's Big West Tournament at the Honda Center and will face second-seeded Cal State Fullerton at approximately 2:30 p.m. Thursday in a quarterfinal game.
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