Junior Mike Boxley () made a critical steal and layup in the final minute, and then pulled down a key rebound and hit two free throws to seal the deal, as the Seattle University men’s basketball team won its second straight road game over a Big West opponent, defeating UC Irvine, 55-52, Tuesday night at the Bren Events Center.
Back-to-back three-pointers by Patrick Rembert and Michael Hunter brought UC Irvine within one at 51-50 with one minute remaining in regulation. After Derrick Strings earned a steal to give the Anteaters a chance to take the lead, Boxley anticipated a pass from Hunter and picked it off, driving in for a layup with 22 seconds left. Hunter came down and attempted a three-pointer, but it missed and Boxley pulled down his seventh rebound of the night while being fouled, hitting two free throw attempts to ice the game for SeattleU.
Shaun Burl (, ) led a balanced scoring attack with ten points, with Leigh Swanson () scoring nine points and pulling down two rebounds off the bench. Boxley finished with eight points to go along with his team-high seven boards, and Austen Powers () contributed seven points and six rebounds in a night when all nine players who saw action for SeattleU scored at least two points.
For the second straight game, SeattleU took the early lead, as baskets by Boxley and Michael Wright () in the first 1:11 of the contest gave the visitors a 4-0 lead. UC Irvine went on a 9-0 run midway through the first half to take its biggest lead of the night at 14-9, but SeattleU fought back, going on a 10-2 run, with all ten points scored by the reserves, to go up by three. Thanks to four points by Burl in the final 1:17 of the half, that would be the halftime lead for SeattleU (25-22).
UC Irvine (1-7) stayed close through most of the second half, taking a 37-35 advantage with 12:44 remaining in the second half. SeattleU responded with a 13-3 run over the next ten minutes to take its biggest lead at 48-40. The Anteaters would make four straight free throws, while Chris Gweth () hit 3-of-4 shots from the charity stripe to keep SeattleU’s lead at seven, setting up the late-game excitement.
Eric Wise shot 6-of-12 from the field and 5-of-8 from the free throw line to lead UC Irvine with 17 points and nine rebounds. Kevin Bland also pulled down nine rebounds to go along with seven points and three assists, while Hunter hit three shots from behind the three-point line to finish with nine points, four rebounds, and two assists.
UC Irvine won the rebounding battle, 31-26, including 13 offensive rebounds, but could not make enough of those second chance opportunities count, shooting 37.3 percent (19-of-51) from the field. Meanwhile, hit a season-high 52.6 percent (20-of-38) of its field goal attempts as well as 72.2 percent (13-of-18) of its free throw attempts, holding UC Irvine to only 12 attempts from the charity stripe.
Seattle University has now won back-to-back road games against Division I schools for the first time since winning at Santa Clara (83-81) and at Portland (96-73) during the 1978-79 season. SeattleU has three victories over Division I opponents, while the other five schools at the same stage of the reclassification process (Bryant, Houston Baptist, North Dakota, South Dakota, SIU Edwardsville) have combined for only three Division I victories against 29 combined losses.
(7-4) returns home to face Saturday, Dec. 20, beginning at 7 p.m. at the . After facing in a regionally televised contest Monday, Dec. 29, in , , SeattleU will host Loyola Marymount in the first Division I home game in almost 29 years Thursday, Jan. 1, beginning at 6:30 p.m. at KeyArena at the . Tickets are still available for the KeyArena game at all Ticketmaster locations or by following the links on GoSeattleU.com.