Englestad, Brooks Lift UC Irvine to Win

Wayne Englestad scored 29 points, and Scott Brooks had 27 as UC Irvine defeated Fresno State, 92-82, Thursday night in a Pacific Coast Athletic Assn. game at the Bren Center.

The game was seldom in doubt. Irvine, concluding its regular season with a 9-9 record in conference play and a 14-13 mark overall, led at halftime, 49-31, and built a 22-point lead midway through the second half.

Brooks, a 5-foot 11-inch guard, had 22 points in the first half, including four three-point shots. He started the evenning averaging 23.4 points a game and had scored 17 when Irvine was beaten, 66-65, Jan. 5 at Fresno.

In this game, he made his 17th point, a layup, with 10 minutes left in the first half. But Brooks, who connected on 7 of 12 shots in the first half, hit on just 1 of 10 shots in the second half.

Englestad picked up the slack, however, scoring 16 second-half points. The 6-8 center made 13 of 14 free throw attempts in the game.

For Irvine, the win meant that it would not have to play conference champion and No. 1-ranked Nevada Las Vegas in the first round of next week’s PCAA tournament.

Fresno State (3-13, 8-19) is 0-13 in road games. The Bulldogs were led by forward Mike Mitchell, who had 24 points and 11 rebounds.