‘Eaters hold off Cal Poly SLO

First the UC Irvine men’s basketball team pulled away. Then, with a 72-62 Big West Conference victory over Cal Poly San Luis Obispo secured with 10 seconds left, the Anteaters’ five seniors hugged it out near center court in the final home game of their career.

Senior Mike Best scored 13 of his 19 points after halftime to lead the hosts (23-8, 12-3 in conference).

Senior Alex Young chipped in 14 points and junior center Mamadou Ndiaye came off the bench to contribute 13 points, six rebounds and four blocks.

Junior guard Luke Nelson added 12 points and a team-best six assists for UCI.

Best was eight for 13 from the field, Ndiaye sank five of six attempts, Young connected on six of 11, and Nelson netted four of seven.

UCI shot 65.2% in the second half to finish at 56.9% from the field for the game, after which the five seniors were recognized in front of what remained of 3,004 at the Bren Events Center.

“I’m happy for the seniors [Best, Young, Dominique Dunning, Aaron Wright and Shawn Ray, all of whom started],” UCI Coach Russell Turner said. “I thought it was a great performance for those guys to lead our team to a win tonight. Somebody said that we sent them out, but I don’t see it that way. They sent us out of here tonight with a win; with a great together performance.”

Turner said this senior class has a distinction it can be proud of.

“Some of the numbers speak for themselves,” Turner said. “They are the winningest class that has ever come through here and that’s pretty good. There have been some good basketball classes through here. For us to win at least 20 games each of the last four seasons is a credit to their commitment and to their improvement.”

UCI, which had just one three-pointer in the first 24 minutes, drilled three straight from beyond the arc to fuel a 12-0 run and take a 49-39 lead with 12:19 remaining.

The visitors closed within 51-49 with 10:19 left, but UCI pulled away to collect its 11th win in 13 home games this season.

With the win, UCI solidified the No. 2 seed in the Big West Conference Tournament that begins Thursday at Honda Center. The Anteaters could still earn a share of conference regular-season title, should they win at UC Riverside on Saturday and first-place Hawaii lose at Long Beach State.

But Hawaii, which swept UCI, would be the top seed in the tournament regardless.

The Anteaters held the Mustangs without a field goal for a stretch of 9:16 midway through the first half, but managed to secure only a 31-28 lead.

UCI shot 50% for the first 20 minutes, while Cal Poly was eight for 26 (a mere 30.8%). The Mustangs finished at 32.7% for the game.

Young led UCI with nine first-half points, converting four of seven field-goal attempts, including his only three-pointer.

Cal Poly senior guard David Nwaba had 12 points at halftime, on his way to a game-high 25 points. He added 10 rebounds for the visitors (10-18, 4-11).

—

Big West Conference

UC Irvine 72, Cal Poly SLO 62

CPSLO – Martin 3, Awich 2, Nwaba, 25, Morgan 12, Shead 3, Bennett 9, Gordon 5, John 3.

3-pt. goals – Morgan 2, Shead 1, John 1.

Fouled out – None.

Technicals – None.

UCI – Best 19, Ray 0, Young 14, Wright 2, Dunning 2, Ndiaye 13, Nelson 12, Dimakopoulos 6, Galloway 4.

3-pt. goals – Young 2, Nelson 2.

Fouled out – None.

Technicals – None.

Halftime – 31-28, UCI.