Men's Basketball Battles, But Anteaters Too Much In 70-52 Victory

Saturday, February 15

Irvine, CA

7:00 PM

UC Riverside

UC Irvine

Photo by: Carlos Puma

Men's Basketball Battles, But Anteaters Too Much In 70-52 Victory

2/15/2014 9:08:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Irvine, CA—The UC Riverside Men's Basketball Team put a scare into the number one team in the conference Saturday evening, trailing UC Irvine by just three points midway through the second half, but the Anteaters went on a 16-4 run over a six-plus minute stretch to pick up a 70-52 victory (box score).

The Anteaters built a 16-point lead, 36-20, with 2:43 to go in the first half, but the Highlanders closed the period on a 9-0 run to cut the advantage to seven at the break. Taylor Johns scored five points during the run, and led all scorers at intermission with 10.

The teams traded baskets for the first five minutes of the second half, and it was an eight-point 'Eaters advantage, 42-34, with 14:45 on the clock, when the Highlanders scored five straight to make it a one possession game with 13:14 remaining.

UC Irvine regrouped and scored 16 of the next 20 points to push the lead back out to 15, 58-43, with 6:39 to go, and the Highlanders never threatened the rest of the way.

Dominique Dunning led the Anteaters' offense with 20 points off the bench, while Alex Young added 11 and Chris McNealy scored 10. Johns paced the Highlanders with a 12-point, 10-rebound double-double, and Sam Finley chipped in with 11 points.

The Highlanders are on the road this week as they travel to UC Santa Barbara on Thursday, February 20 and to Cal Poly on Saturday, February 22. Tip time for both games is 7 pm PT.