MORAGA, Calif. — Saint Mary's fought hard on Wednesday night as they held the lead for majority of the game, but ultimately fell 80-75 to UC Irvine. Jordan Ford scored his second most points of the season (30) while Jordan Hunter scored a career-high 13.

HOW IT HAPPENED
23 of Ford's points came in the second half en route to his second 30-plus point game of the season. The Gaels' guard has 20 or more points in five of the team's seven games this year.

Halfway through the second the Anteaters went on a 9-2 run to tie the Gaels 48-48, but Jordan Hunter brought back the momentum for the Gaels and scored seven points in a row including going 4-for-4 from the free throw line during that stretch. Hunter continued to produce at the free throw line and went 7-for-7 throughout the entire game.

With two and a half minutes to play, Stanford grad-transfer Robert Cartwright made a layup to give the 'Eaters a one-point advantage and UCI would hold on to that lead for the remainder of the game. Evan Leonard scored 22 points to lead Irvine's offense on 7-of-11 shooting for the night.

The Gaels found production in the second half by getting to the free throw line and shot 15-of-17 from the charity stripe as a team during the final period. Saint Mary's was unable to stop the UCI offense however as their opponent shot nearly 60 percent from the field during the final 20 minutes.

Saint Mary's got off to a solid start with Tanner Krebs sinking the first three of the game as the Gaels then went on to make six of their first seven shots. In the first half of the game, the two teams went point-for-point until the Gaels pulled out a 5-0 run towards the end of the half. SMC outshot UC Irvine 58 percent to 39 in the opening 20 with the Gaels' offense being led by Jordan Ford who was 3-for-4 for seven points.

While Saint Mary's never held more than a seven point advantage during the first half, the Gaels led UCI for nearly 14 minutes and trailed for less than three.

NUMBERS TO KNOW

• 5: UCI's largest lead of the night which came with six seconds to play.
• 16: There were 16 lead changes during the game.
• 38: The Gaels scored 38 of their points in the paint.
• 40: Jordan Ford played all 40 minutes for the third time this season.
• 50: SMC's shooting percentage against UC Irvine.

UP NEXT: CAL

• The Gaels will remain in Moraga for their next match against Cal on Saturday, Dec. 1 at 7 p.m. Tickets for the game can be purchased by clicking here or by calling the Ticket Office at (925) 631-GoTx.