UC Riverside
UT Arlington
Mavericks Come From Behind to Beat UCR
12/18/2006 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
The visiting Mavericks of the University of Texas Arlington overcame a 10-point second half deficit to post a 78-77 win over the host UC Riverside Highlanders in front of 317 fans at the Student Recreation Center in Riverside Monday.
UCR falls to 3-7 overall, while UTA improves to 4-5.
Freshman forward Henrik Thomsen led four Highlanders in double-figure scoring with 23 points. Senior guard Dedrick Bates had 13, senior guard Justin Bell had 10 points and five assists and sophomore guard Chris Johnson had 10 points. UCR shot 51.7% (31-of-60) from the field and hit 6-of-18 from the three point line.
UTA forward Jermaine Griffin had a game- and career- high 27 points, and Anthony Vereen added 13 while Tommy Moffitt had 10. UTA shot an even 50.0% in both halves, finishing at 31-of-62 from the field, with 47 points coming from the paint.
The Highlanders led 73-67 with 1:01 remaining, but Roderick Epps' layup and Ro'ger Guignard's three cut the score to 73-72 with 48 ticks left.
Epps' coast-to-coast layup made it 75-74 with 42 seconds left, but Cunningham took the in bounds, outran the defense and found Bates for a layup to make it 77-74 with 32.6 remaining.
On the ensuing possession, UTA's Larry Posey scored on a put-back layup with 17 seconds left. UCR called a timeout prior to the inbounds, and UTA then was able to tie-up Bell on the inbounds, forcing a jump-ball with the possession arrow pointing to UTA. Griffin then scored his final two points on a short jumper that Cunningham knocked out of the air for a goaltending call, giving them the their first lead of the half at 78-77 with 10 seconds left.
UCR had a final look at the basket with 4.5 seconds left, but Bates shot attempt missed at the buzzer.
Thomsen led all scorers with 15 points in the first half and provided a defensive spark by taking back-to-back charges in the midst of a 13-3 UCR run that turned a 28-21 UTA lead into a 34-31 UCR advantage. The Highlanders took a 38-36 lead into the intermission behind 48.5% (16-of-33) shooting. UTA held court in the paint, scoring 19 of their 29 points off of field goals from short range, shooting 50% (13-of-26) overall.
