RIVERSIDE — It was clear early on that the UC Irvine men’s basketball team would need its defense to keep the game close on Monday night against California Baptist until the offense could find its rhythm.

That point finally came late in the second half, allowing Irvine to escape with a 71-63 win over the Lancers in the nonconference game at California Baptist.

Bent Leuchten scored 16 of his 20 points in the second half and also pulled down 10 rebounds for Irvine (11-2).

Devin Tillis scored 11 of his 13 points after halftime and finished with eight rebounds.

Myles Che scored 12 points, half coming on three straight possessions late in the second half when the Anteaters began their decisive run.

Justin Hohn scored 11 of his 13 points in the first half, when few others were getting shots to fall.

“We’re a team that relies on everybody, and I thought we got really good performances from a lot of different guys tonight, in different ways,” said Irvine coach Russell Turner, who earned his 300th victory for the Anteaters. “We showed some defensive versatility tonight. I’m proud of that.”

Dominique Daniels Jr. came in averaging 22.4 points for CBU, fifth in the nation entering the day, and the Compton native finished with 19 points. Adam Moussa, who came in averaging 4.1 points, also scored 19 for Cal Baptist (7-7).

Irvine was coming off a nine-day break since losing at Duquesne 70-54 on Dec. 21, a performance in which nobody scored in double figures for Irvine.

The Anteaters have also lost two key players to season-ending injuries, starting shooting guard Andre Henry and backup guard Langston Redfield.

The Anteaters didn’t take their first lead against CBU until Jurian Dixon scored on a layup in transition to move Irvine ahead 35-34 with 15:35 left.

The lead continued to change hands until a jumper by Che moved the Anteaters back ahead 59-58 with 4:54 left and sparked a 9-0 run that put Irvine out front 66-58 with 1:27 remaining.

“Bent and Devin were the difference in the second half,” Turner said. “I thought it was a good team win. Cal Baptist outplayed us early, credit to them for that. Justin Hohn kept us in it early in the game.”

The Anteaters were chasing CBU the entire first half.

Daniels and Moussa sank 3s on back-to-back possessions to give the Lancers an early 8-2 lead.

CBU took its first double-digit advantage at 14-4 on a jumper by Jonathan Griman with 12:54 remaining.

“It looked to me, early in the game, that Cal Baptist was more physical and more determined and more competitive than we were,” Turner said. “We looked soft early, and a lot of that credit goes to them.”