HUNTSVILLE, Tex. --- Southern Miss capitalized on late miscues by UC Irvine as the Golden Eagles defeated the Anteaters, 69-65, in the Progressive Legends Classic Subregional at Bernard G. Johnson Coliseum in Huntsville, Tex., Tuesday night.
The Eagles outscored UCI 10-2 in the final 3:16 to improve to 4-0 on the season.
Senior Michael Wilder led the Anteaters (3-2) with 16 points, hitting 5 of 9 field goals, including 4 of 7 threes, and freshman Alex Young added 11 points and eight assists. Wilder had a team-high four rebounds.
Seniors Daman Starring and Adam Folker scored eight points apiece while junior Chris McNealy had seven. Redshirt freshman Aaron Wright scored five points and added a pair of steals.
Michael Craig led Southern Miss with 21 points and eight rebounds while Jonathan Mills added 14 points.
Two free throws by Young gave UCI a 63-59 lead with 3:35 remaining, but the Eagles took advantage of two Anteater turnovers in a 25-second span to launch an 8-0 run and went ahead 67-63 on a layup by Dwayne Davis with 17 seconds left and held on for the win.
UCI never led in the first half but pulled within 31-30 at halftime on a deep three from the right corner by Young with 3.5 seconds left.
A three-pointer from Starring to open the second-half scoring gave UCI its first lead of the game at 33-31.
The 'Eaters took their largest lead of the night at 51-43 on a pair of free throws by Wilder with 11:11 left, but the Eagles used strong rebounding to stay close to set up their final run.
Southern Miss outrebounded UCI, 35-20, including 17 offensive rebounds to just six for the 'Eaters. The Eagles hit 20 of 23 free throws, including 10 of 10 in the game, and had just seven turnovers to 10 for UCI.
The Anteaters did have 20 assists on 22 baskets and shot 50 percent from the field in the game, hitting 9 of 21 threes.
"We got beat by a group of athletes who are older and stronger than us, but we should have matched their mentality," UCI head coach Russell Turner said. "We didn't get anything in the paint and have to make some stops down the stretch.
"We are an unselfish team that passed the ball beautifully, but unfortunately had the turnovers late in the game," he added.
UCI faces host Sam Houston State Wednesday at 5:00 p.m. (PT) in the last game of the subregional.
The 'Eaters travel to Malibu to face Pepperdine Saturday night at 7:00.
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