UC Irvine 70, Santa Clara 58
SANTA CLARA, Calif. (AP) Aaron Fitzgerald scored 17 points to help UC Irvine end an 11-game road losing streak with a 70-58 victory over Santa Clara on Tuesday night.
Greg Ethington added 14 points and nine rebounds as Irvine (3-2) won its first game away from home since January. It was also the Anteaters first nonconference road win since beating Saint Mary's on Dec. 22, 2002. Ross Schraeder also scored 14.
Doron Perkins and Kyle Bailey each scored 13 points to lead Santa Clara (6-4), which lost its second straight. Perkins also had 11 rebounds.
After Brody Angley hit a 3-pointer, giving the Broncos a 34-31 lead in the first 10 seconds of the second half, Irvine went on a 19-6 run - with Ethington and Fitzgerald accounting for 17 of those points - to open a 50-40 lead with 12:05 remaining.
The Broncos whittled away at the lead and drew within 55-54 on a Bailey jumper seven minutes later.
It stayed close until UC Irvine started to pull away in the final minute.
The Anteaters, playing their first game in 10 days, went on a 12-2 run to pull ahead 26-21 with under six minutes left in the half.
Santa Clara, after missing 18 of its first 25 shots, made four of six in the closing minutes to tie the score. Bailey's 3-pointer with less than a minute left made it 31-all at halftime.
