TAIPEI, Taiwan – The UC Irvine men's basketball team overcame a first quarter deficit to run away with the 95-80 win over then undefeated Chinese Taipei A National Team.

Ofure Ujadughele hustled on both ends of the court pouring in eight points on perfect 4-4 shooting, nine rebounds, and nine assists in 24 minutes on the floor.

Dean Keeler was a menace on the floor as well shooting a perfect 6-6 from the floor and made his one make from the free throw line for 13 points. Keeler also brought down three rebounds, assisted on two baskets, stole the ball three times, and blocked three shots.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS
>Four Anteaters scored in double digits: Dylan Thoerner (19), Justin Hohn (14), Andre Henry (17), and Keeler (13)
>Thoerner nailed four of his seven three-point attempts (4-7, 0.571)
>Henry was a team leader off the glass with seven rebounds
>UC Irvine scored 11 points off fast breaks, nine off turnovers, eight second chance points, 49 bench points, and 38 in the paint
>UCI held the advantage off the glass, 50-28

FROM HEAD COACH RUSSELL TURNER
"Thank you for the opportunity to be here tonight. It was an outstanding basketball atmosphere in the arena. I am really impressed with the fans of Taipei with how knowledgeable and impactful they are for their team. They [the Chinese Taipei A team and their fans] set the tone early in the game and my group looked rattled by the intensity that was created by them. They made what could have been a devastating run to start the game, but my players responded like champions and showed how badly they wanted to win and how much the Jones Cup competition means to us."

Justin Hohn had the first basket of the contest which was followed with one from Andre Henry. The Chinese Taipei A National Team then went on a run filled by three three-pointers and extra point possessions to lead 17-4 with 3:31 remaining in the period. Hohn and Dylan Thoerner made their shots from long range to force the home team to regroup. The 'Eaters clawed back into the game but were down 19-16 at the end of the first quarter.

UC Irvine's offense began to heat up in the second period taking back the lead early. The two squads kept responding to each other's calls until the Chinese Taipei had to call a timeout after Dean Keeler made a run at the basket and Henry put the ball in the hoop on the wide-open back cut. The Anteaters went into halftime leading, 41-34.

The third quarter saw a dominant scoring effort on both sides as the Anteaters won the 10-minute period, 36-25. Thoerner hit his target from long range after Bent Leuchten made one. Both Akiva McBirney-Griffin and Keeler made trips to the charity stripe after drawing the and one call while Thoerner made all three of his attempts after being fouled on his up to take the three-point shot. UCI held the lead, 77-59, going into the final period of action.

UC Irvine shared the ball with each other, passing the ball off to their teammates to get buckets. The Anteaters remained blazing hot from three-point range as Henry and Thoerner added one more each to their total for the night.

UP NEXT
UCI will turn around to close out the Jones Cup at 3 p.m. China Standard Time (12 a.m. PST) with the Philippines, looking to become the first USA team to earn a gold medal since 2006.