Stewart Streak Leads Irvine to 89-67 Victory

UC Irvine guard Keith Stewart scored 10 consecutive points late in the second half as the Anteaters pulled away to an 89-67 exhibition victory over the Lafayette (Ind.) Hustlers in front of 1,218 in the Bren Center on Monday.

Jeff Von Lutzow led Irvine with 16 points. Stewart, who started Irvine’s final 10 games last season, his first at Irvine after transferring from Marquette, scored 14 points and was three of four from three-point range.

The Anteaters trailed by three at halftime and were guarding a 10-point lead when Stewart scored on two fast breaks and two three-point shots to give them an 84-64 lead with 3:07 left.

Irvine point guard Lloyd Mumford, who was playing his first game as an Anteater since transferring from Villanova, had nine assists and scored 11 points, but made only two of nine shots.

“We had a pretty good half, just not a very good whole,” said Irvine Coach Rod Baker, whose team was 7-22 last season in his first year at the school. “We found that out that even though we think we’re better, we’re still not good enough if we don’t play hard.”

The Hustlers were playing their eighth game in 10 days.