UC Irvine pulls away from Eastern Washington 70-61

CHENEY, Wash. (AP) — Luke Nelson scored 13 points off the bench to lead UC Irvine to a 70-61 win over Eastern Washington Saturday.

UC Irvine (6-5) used a 12-3 run to jump out to a 22-13 first-half lead. Eastern Washington (5-4) responded, taking the 31-29 lead on an Ognjen Miljkovic layup with 24 seconds left in the half.

The Anteaters came out strong in the second half, retaking the lead and pushing it to double figures with 10:50 remaining.

The Eagles would cut the lead to four multiple times, but Irvine always had the answer. A late 7-0 run extended the lead back to 68-56 with just less than a minute.

Will Davis II scored 12 points for Irvine, and Mamadou Ndiaye added 10 points, eight rebounds and four blocks.

Tyler Harvey led the Eagles with 15 points. EWU finished a woeful 33.3 percent from the field while Irvine shot 49.1 percent.