FULLERTON, Calif. – Will Davis II scored 21 points and grabbed 7 rebounds Thursday as UC Irvine hung on for a 63-58 Big West Conference victory at Cal State Fullerton in the 100th meeting of the Orange County rivals. UCI (9-8, 2-1) won its fifth in a row in the series but still trails, 52-48.
Alex Harris scored 17 points and Steve McClellan had a game-high 10 rebounds, for the Titans (8-9, 0-2), who trailed by as many as 17 points in each half.
No other Anteater scored more than 7 points. Lanerryl Johnson added 14 points for Fullerton, which saw a 4-game home-court winning streak snapped.
Fullerton got within 3 points in the closing minutes and had the ball on a couple of occasions. UCI turned the ball over on an inbounds play with 17 seconds to play but Johnson stepped out of bounds 3 seconds later. Alex Young hit 2 free throws with 12 seconds left to complete the scoring.
UCI took control early with a 13-0 run that opened a 26-13 lead at the 8:41 mark of the first half. The Anteaters took advantage of 11 Fullerton turnovers and finished the period with a 6-1 spurt for a 42-26 lead at intermission.
UCI got stuck on 49 points for 9 ½ minutes of the second half and Fullerton slowly scored 12 unanswered points to cut the deficit to 49-44. Young's bucket at 7:49 ended the drought but the 'Eaters couldn't shake the Titans, who first pulled within 3 at 59-56 when Harris converted a UCI turnover into a layup at the 1:55 mark.
The Anteaters played without 7-foot-6 center Mamadou Ndiaye, who sat out with a recurring foot injury.
Harris moved into 20th place on the Titans' career scoring list with (1,029) points, passing Mike Niles (1,014) and Agee Ward (1,017). D.J. Seeley is No. 19 at 1,037.
Fullerton is home again Saturday (6:05 p.m.), hosting surprising UC Davis, which is off to the best start in its Div. I history at 13-3 overall and 3-0 to lead the Big West.