Collin Welp and Aiden Krause came off the bench on Fire scoring 18 and 15 points, respectively, and lead UC Irvine to a 98-52 win over the NAIA’s Life Pacific in the Anteaters’s home opener Tuesday night.
The Anteaters bounced back after having their nine-game road win streak snapped with a 77-73 loss at Pepperdine last week. The last time UC Irvine lost a road game was December 29, 2018 at Life Pacific.
Brad Greene scored 13 points and grabbed 10 rebounds and Eyassu Worku scored a dozen points and dished seven assists. UC Irvine hit 39 of 72 from the field (54.2%) and held a 54-24 advantage on the boards.
UCI RECAP
FIRST HALF
UCI started with the first six points of the game on baskets by Worku, Greene and Tommy Rutherford
– A 7-0 spurt that was capped by a three-pointer by Welp at 14:33 extended the lead to 15-4
– Life Pacific would close to 20-12 at 12:16 only to watch UCI out-score the Warriors 9-2 which was started by three-points from Krause and a layup from Jeron Artest, 29-14 (11:12)
– Points in the paint by Rutherford and Greene, a three-pointer by Worku and a pair of free throws by John Edgar Jr. made the advantage 42-22 with 4:18 to go in the half
– The Anteaters would take a 52-30 lead in to the break
SECOND HALF
>UCI burst out of the locker room on a 12-0 run that was capped by a breakaway dunk by Edgar Jr. at the 15:49 mark, 64-30
>Another 10 unanswered points, pushing the lead to a 41 point margin (74-33)
>UCI went up by as much as 48 points, 94-46, after Isaiah Lee drained a three-pointer at 4:22
>A layup by Dean Keeler with 37 seconds left on the clock ended the scoring 98-52
Colin Cunniff had 10 points for Life Pacific and was the lone scorer to reach double figures.
The Anteaters play at Boise State Friday.
Take a look at the Eaters Highlights vs Life Pacific below:
