IRVINE, Calif. – UC Irvine held off a second half surge by Pacific to close out 2019 with a 69-56 victory at the Bren Events Center Saturday.

The Anteaters (8-7) would lead by as many as 21 early in the second half before the Tigers rallied to get within three points (56-53) with 3:00 remaining. Strong free throw shooting and a clutch three from Collin Welp helped UCI to end the game on a 13-3 run to secure the victory.
 
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
>Collin Welp had a game-high 17 points to led the Anteaters in scoring for the seventh time this season. The forward went 5-14 from the floor overall and 4-5 from three-point range. He also chipped in eight rebounds
>Senior Tommy Rutherford added 10 points, scoring eight in the second half
>Center brad Greene had a team-best nine rebounds to go with eight points and two blocks
Senior guard Evan Leonard and Eyassu Worku each totaled nine points with Worku grabbing seven rebounds, which tied his career-high and dishing five assists
>Pacific (12-4) was led by Jahlil Trip with 14 points and 15 rebounds. Gary Chivichyan shared the scoring lead with 14 points
>UCI went 7-13 from three (53.8%), while Pacific was 2-13 (15.4%). The Anteaters were also better at the line shooting 20-25 (80%) compared to 10-18 (55.6%) for the Tigers

TURNING POINTS
FIRST HALF
>Tommy Rutherford got the scoring going before Pacific scored the next six, 6-2 (15:11)
>Eyassu Worku would drain a jumper (16:33) and Austin Johnson would grab a rebound and put it back in (14:11) to knot the score at six all
>Evan Leonard stole the ball then had a streaking layup at 9:59 before Collin Welp drained a three-pointer at the top of the arc (9:44) and knocked down a free throw at 9:11 to open an 18-12 advantage
>UCI went on a 10-0 run which was highlighted by back-to-back threes by Welp, 30-15 (4:22)
>The Tigers closed out the half on a 8-2 spurt to narrow UCI's lead to 35-25 at the break
>Welp finished the half with 12 points, including a trio of three pointers

SECOND HALF
>Leonard scored five points in a 13-2 run that was capped by a Jeron Artest three-pointer to start the half, 48-17 (14:27)
>Pacific would score 13 unanswered to get to 50-44 at 7:36
>Rutherford would hit a pair of free throws at 7:18 to snap a six minute draught, 52-44
>After Pacific would close to three (56-53), Rutherford had a layup (1:51) and Eyassu Worku hit two free throws (1:36), 60-53
>Following a Tiger free throw, Worku showed some fancy dribbling and found Welp in the corner for a three with 49 seconds remaining, 63-54
>Welp (0:34), Worku (0:20) and Aiden Krause (0:09) would each record two free throws to end the game, 69-56

NOTES
> Pacific out-rebounded UC Irvine by a 45-40 margin, only the second time the Anteaters have lost the battle of the boards this season
>The Anteaters snapped a two game losing streak with the win
>UCI improves to 7-1 on the season when leading at halftime
>With his five assists, Worku moved into sixth place all-time in the UCI record books with 345
>UCI is 4-1 at home this season
>It is the Anteaters first win against the Tigers since 2016
>2016 was also the last time UCI would win the last game of the calendar year

UP NEXT
>UCI will close out the non-conference schedule at Harvard on Jan. 4. Tip-off is set for 11:00 a.m. PT