Irvine Relies on Defense for Victory

IRVINE — The UC Irvine men’s basketball team outscored the Lafayette Hustlers, 14-2, early in the second half Monday night en route to a 97-83 exhibition victory in front of 1,665 in the Bren Center.

The Hustlers led, 45-41, at halftime, but Irvine’s pressure man-to-man defense forced a rash of Lafayette turnovers and the Anteaters went ahead for good, 57-56, on a layup by Todd Whitehead with 12:46 left to play.

Guard Lloyd Mumford led Irvine with 22 points, followed by junior Elzie Love and senior center DeForrest Boyer with 14 each. Boyer, who missed the first exhibition game with an abdominal strain, made seven of eight shots from the field and grabbed six rebounds.

“A lot of things let us down in the first half,” Coach Rod Baker said, “but we went back to the man-to-man in the second half and decided to just get after them.”