[0] AVENGERS GET FIRST VICTORY AVENGERS 36, OKLAHOMA 33.

Byline: Rich Hammond Staff Writer

Nothing has come easily for the Avengers, so it only figured they would have to battle to the last second for their first victory of the season.

Brian Reaves made a 40-yard field goal as time expired as the Avengers beat the Oklahoma Wranglers 36-33 on Saturday in front of 6,813 at Staples Center, their first victory in six games.

The game seemed headed to overtime in the final minute after kicker Chris Sailer missed an extra point to keep the score tied 33-33.

The Avengers got the ball back with 15 seconds left and got Reaves into decent position with a completion to Chris Jackson at midfield. Reaves' kick was straight on and hit the net as time expired.

``Right now it's really hard to celebrate,'' interim coach Robert Lyles said, ``because this team has been under so much pressure.''

Erik Wilhelm, the Avengers' on-again, off-again quarterback depending on the weekly status of Todd Marinovich, played his best game of the season.

For the first time, he showed the ability to throw deep with some consistency, which made the Avengers tougher to defend. He also kept them in the game in the second half, when they have tended to fold in close games.

Wilhelm threw a 7-yard touchdown pass to Travis Hannah three minutes into the third quarter to give the Avengers a 19-13 lead, but the Wranglers answered on the final play of the period on a 13-yard pass from Ron Lopez to Lamont Cooper.

The teams exchanged touchdowns when the Avengers' Ed Smith recovered a loose ball in the end zone after a missed field goal and the Wranglers answered on a 3-yard run by McDonald.

That gave Oklahoma a 27-26 lead and set up the late heroics.

In the first half, the Avengers completed two trick plays and dominated the time of possession, but managed only the halftime tie. They started the game by recovering an onside kick, and a 35-yard pass to Anthony Rice put the ball at the Oklahoma 5.

But the Avengers had to settle for a 19-yard field goal after three failed running plays, and the Wranglers quickly took a 6-3 lead when Travis McDonald capped a seven-play, 45-yard drive with a 2-yard scoring run.

Backed up to their own 1 after a kickoff miscue and a false start, the Avengers took more than seven minutes to go 52 yards, but again settled for a field goal, this one a 23-yarder.

Oklahoma went up 13-6 four plays into its ensuing possession on a 30- yard pass from Lopez to Cooper.

Rice ran the kickoff out of his own end zone for a touchdown, but a block in the back negated the score and put the Avengers back at their own 2.

The Avengers went on an improbable 13-play drive that took nearly 11 minutes off the clock. Wilhelm ran 19 yards on a fake field goal to keep the drive going, and the Avengers scored on a 10-yard pass from Wilhelm to Jackson 56 seconds before halftime.