Box ScoreÂ
SEOUL, South Korea – The UC Irvine men's basketball team fell to a university selected team from Russia, 92-91, in the final game of the Asia Pacific University Challenge Sunday at Jamsil Students' Gymnasium.
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The Anteaters finished in second-place at the tournament with a 4-1 record. With the win, Russia was crowned the winner of the tournament.
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Freshman
JC Butler led the 'Eaters with 17 points while
John Edgar Jr. finished with 16 and
Collin Welp had 13.
Tommy Rutherford finished with a game-high 11 rebounds.
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As a team, UCI out-rebounded Russia 40-28. Russia held advantages in assists (20-15) and steals (8-7). The Anteaters shot 40 percent overall while Russia shot 49 percent from the floor.
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Russia jumped out to a 9-7 lead in the first five minutes of the game before UCI came back to take a 14-11 advantage with 3:18 left in the first quarter.
Devin Cole had five points in the stretch. The 'Eaters ended the first quarter with a 24-19 lead.
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UCI continued to roll going up, 43-28, with 3:19 left in the second quarter and held on to a 49-35 lead at halftime.
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The Anteaters fell flat in the third quarter as Russia outscored them 32-21 to close the gap and make it 70-67 at the end of the frame.
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UCI extended its lead 80-67 with 7:17 left in the game but Russia clawed back to make it 87-84 with just over a minute to play. It came down to the final seconds and Russia pulled out the one-point, 92-91, victory.
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