The UC Riverside Highlanders overcame a 13-point second half deficit to
defeat the visiting Cal State Fullerton Titans, 64-60, in a Big West match-up
in front of 1,342 spirited fans at the Student Recreation Center in Riverside
Saturday.
UCR moved to 5-6, 2-1 on the season and CSF moved to 4-8, 0-3.
Sophomore guard Nate Carter had the Highlanders' first double-double of
the season with 15 points and 10 rebounds in 37 minutes of play. Senior
guard Kevin Butler had 14 points, all coming in the second half, and senior
guard Mark Peters had 13.
For Fullerton, senior forward Pape Sow had a double-double with 17 points
and 17 rebounds, the latter tying a career high. Freshman guard Bobby
Brown had 12 points for the Titans.
Fullerton played without swingman Anthony Bolton. The team's No. 3 scorer
is an academic casualty. The length of his absence will be learned next
week.
The Titans opened the second half by scoring five points to build their
lead to 13 points at 39-26, the biggest lead of the night. But UCR then
got busy, outscoring CSF 15-2 to tie the game at 41-41 with 13:24 remaining.
The Highlanders' outside shooting keyed the run, as Matt Benson drained
a pair of treys and Carter and Butler each hit one.
The game was nip and tuck from there as the teams battled back and forth
through eight ties and five lead changes before UCR took the lead for
good at 60-58 on a layup by Rickey Porter with 1:46 remaining. Porter
iced the game a few moments later, sinking a free throw with six seconds
remaining to make the final 64-60.
UCR jumped out to an early 9-4 lead at 16:14, but the Titans went on a
15-2 run over the next 5:50 to take a 19-11 lead. In the run UCR turned
the ball over five times and missed three shots. CSF built the lead to
as many as 12 in the first half, the last time at 32-20 at 2:44, but the
Highlanders outscored the Titans 6-2 over the final two minutes to bring
the deficit to 34-26 entering the intermission
UCR outshot the Titans, 41.0% to 40.3% and forced them into 18 turnovers,
compared to 12 for UCR.
The loss marked the fourth straight game that the Titans had a lead in
the second half, only to lose it.
The Highlanders return to action on Thursday, January 15th visiting UC
Irvine while Fullerton travels to Long Beach State.
