IRVINE, Calif. --- UC Irvine held off Cal Poly, 55-48, at the Bren Events Center Saturday night as the Anteaters retained sole possession of first place in the Big West Conference.
Sophomore guard Alex Young led UCI (20-10, 11-3) with 12 points and he added four assists and four rebounds in the game that was televised nationally on ESPNU.
Freshman center Mamadou Ndiaye added 10 points and with three blocked shots, he became UCI's single-season record-holder with 90, passing the previous mark of 88 set by junior teammate Will Davis II last season.
Davis had nine points and three boards Saturday night while sophomore Dominique Dunning registered nine points and six rebounds in 15 minutes off the bench.
Senior guard Chris McNealy scored seven points and tied Dunning for the team high in rebounds with six. Freshman guard Luke Nelson had five points, four assists and two steals. Junior post John Ryan contributed three steals and two blocked shots.
David Nwaba led Cal Poly (10-18, 6-9) with 20 points and 13 rebounds while Chris Eversley had 10 points and six boards.
Both teams struggled in the first half as UCI took a 19-16 lead at the break. The 'Eaters shot 25 percent from the field in the opening 20 minutes and the Mustangs 16.7 percent.
UCI shot 66.7 percent in the second half to finish the game at 42.9 percent and Cal Poly hit 50 percent from the field in the final 20 minutes to shoot 34 percent for the contest.
UCI is now 18-0 overall and 10-0 in Big West games this season when the opposition shoots under 40 percent.
The 'Eaters led by as many as six points early in the second half before the Mustangs took a 39-36 lead after a layup by Brian Bennett with 8:40 remaining.
Young nailed a three 16 seconds later to pull UCI even and Dunning then scored five consecutive points to put the 'Eaters up 44-39 with 5:11 left.
Reese Morgan hit three free throws with 4:52 remaining to draw Cal Poly within 44-42, but McNealy hit a big trey for the second straight game with 3:52 left to give UCI a 47-42 lead.
A basket by Bennett closed the margin to 51-48 with 46 seconds remaining, but Davis scored underneath while getting fouled off a perfect feed from Nelson with 16.2 seconds left and Davis converted the free throw for a 54-48 lead.
Aaron Wright added a free throw with four seconds remaining for the final margin.
UCI has won at least 20 games for the second straight season and for the seventh time in the 49-year history of the program.
The 'Eaters have a one game lead over UC Santa Barbara in the Big West with two games remaining.
UCI travels to Cal State Fullerton Thursday night for a 7:00 game and hosts UC Davis next Saturday at 4:30 p.m. (Prime Ticket) in the regular-season finale at the Bren Center.
Chris McNealy, the team's only senior, will be honored prior to Saturday's game.
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