Final Score: Southern Miss 69, UC Irvine 65

Huntsville, TX (Sports Network) - Michael Craig scored a career-high 21 points and grabbed eight rebounds as the Southern Miss Golden Eagles held off the UC Irvine Anteaters, 69-65, in the Legends Classic at Johnson Coliseum.

Jonathan Mills chipped in 14 points and seven boards for Southern Miss (4-0).

For UCI (3-2), Michael Wilder led the way with 16 points, while Alex Young tallied 11 points and eight boards.

Southern Miss led by as many as eight in the first half, but UCI climbed back to make its deficit just one, 31-30, heading into intermission.

The Anteaters had the advantage for most of the second half, and they took a 63-59 lead with three and a half minutes remaining on a pair of Young free throws. Southern Miss answered with eight straight points however, and a Dwayne Davis jumper gave it a 67-63 lead with under 20 seconds to play. UCI cut into the lead with a pair of free throws, but Mills put the game out of reach by going 2-of-2 from the line with six seconds left.

UCI lost despite hitting 9-of-21 from three-point range. Southern Miss went just 3-of-15 from beyond the arc, but it went 20-of-23 from the free throw line.