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Men's Basketball Matt Michalec, SID

Late Surge Lifts UC Irvine Past NSU, 64-51

Lyons Records 1st Career Double-Double; Deloach Named to All-Tournament Team

Box Score

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – Michael Hunter scored a game-high 19 points and Kevin Bland added 13 points and 18 rebounds as UC Irvine topped Norfolk State 64-51 on Monday in final-day action of the Basketball Travelers Tip-Off Tournament hosted by Missouri State at JQH Arena.

UCI (2-9) used a late 12-0 run to break a 44-all tie and send the Spartans (1-9) to their ninth straight loss, matching the 1997-98 team for the longest losing skid in school history.

The Anteaters held NSU to a season-low 29.5 percent shooting. Despite that figure, the Spartans hung around with a strong early effort on defense and on the boards, but fell short in the end.

Both teams connected on just seven field goals and shot under 30 percent in the first half, which ended with UCI ahead 21-20. But freshman forward Kyle O'Quinn (Jamaica, N.Y.) scored six of NSU's first 10 points out of the break, capped by a jumper in the paint, as the Spartans claimed their largest lead of the game, at 30-25.

Michael Deloach (Rocky Mount, N.C.) forced the last of the game's six ties at 44-44 by making two free throws with 7:10 left. But the Spartans came up empty on four straight possessions as UCI went on its 12-0 run. Derrick Strings and Brett Lauer hit 3-pointers in the spurt as the Anteaters pulled away with points on five straight trips down the floor.

Corey Lyons (Bronx, N.Y.) led NSU with 13 points and a career-high 14 rebounds, his first career double-double. Deloach added 12 points, four assists and three steals. Aleek Pauline (Jamaica, N.Y.) scored a season-high 10 points and was 6-of-6 from the free-throw line as NSU shot 13-of-15 (87 percent) from the charity stripe.

Eric Wise added 13 points and Strings 10 for UCI, which shot just 39 percent from the floor overall but connected on 8-of-19 (42 percent) from behind the arc. NSU was just 2-of-20 (10 percent) from long range.

Deloach was named to the all-tournament team for NSU, along with tourney MVP Desmond Yates and Demetrius Green of Middle Tennessee State, Chris Cooks and Spencer Laurie of Missouri State, and Bland of UC Irvine. MTSU won the tournament with a 3-0 record after beating the host Bears 63-51 in Monday's nightcap. MSU finished 2-1 and UCI finished 1-2.

NSU returns to action Dec. 28-29 at the Bobcat 6th Man Club GranTree Inn Classic hosted by Montana State in Bozeman, Mont.

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