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Men's Basketball:
Eastern Washington Holds Off UC Irvine 74-69
Nov. 19, 2008
IRVINE, Calif. --- Junior guard Benny Valentine scored 17 points and senior forward Andy Genao recorded 12 points and 17 rebounds to lead Eastern Washington over UC Irvine, 74-69, in a non-conference game at the Bren Events Center Wednesday night. The Eagles shot 60 percent from the field in the second half and out-rebounded UCI 36-22 for the game in improving to 1-1 on the season. Freshman forward Eric Wise led the Anteaters (0-2) with 19 points and six rebounds. Junior guards Michael Hunter and Darren Moore scored 13 points each, and Hunter added four assists. Genao had seven points and 12 boards in the first 20 minutes as Eastern led 33-30 at the half. UCI's last lead of the night came at 24-23 on a jumper by Ryan Staker with 3:50 remaining in the first half. The `Eaters tied the game at 40-40 on a layup by Hunter with 16:19 left in the game. Eastern built an eight-point lead on several occasions and led by seven at 67-60 after two free throws by Valentine with 1:30 remaining before UCI closed to within 69-67 with 39 seconds left as Hunter scored all seven of the Anteaters' points in that stretch. Genao hit a pair of free throws at the 32-second mark for a 71-67 Eagles' lead before Wise countered with a basket with 21 seconds left to cut the deficit to 71-69. Valentine hit two foul shots with 18 seconds remaining and Gary Gibson hit one of two with 2.8 seconds left for the final margin. Eastern shot 53.9 percent from the field for the game to UCI's 41.7 percent. The Anteaters hit 25 of 29 free throws to the Eagles' 20 of 27. Genao's 17 rebounds were one shy of the Bren Center record set by Cedric Ceballos of Cal State Fullerton in 1990. UCI hosts Oregon Friday night in the Bren Center at 7:05.
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