Box Score Northridge, CA—The UC Riverside Men's Basketball Team got 24 points from
Jaylen Bland Thursday night, and thwarted a
CSUN comeback by scoring seven of the final nine points of the game in a 75-72 victory.
The win snapped a five-game losing streak for the Highlanders, who improved to 10-10 on the season and 1-3 in the Big West. It was also Bland's third straight game scoring 20 or more points, and his seventh of the season
UCR never trailed during the first 37 minutes of the game, and led by as many as 10 in the second half. But a 20-8 Matadors run late in the contest put
CSUN on top, 70-68 with just over two minutes remaining.
Alex Larsson's lay up tied the score at 70 with 1:40 to go, and following an ill-advised
CSUN three-pointer, Taylor Johns drained two free throws to put the Highlanders back on top, 72-70. UC Riverside made three of four free throws down the stretch, and clamped down on the defensive end, to secure their first conference win of the season.
The Highlanders scored the first seven points of the game, and led for the entirety of the first half. They took a 36-31 lead into the locker room, but the advantage could have been greater were it not for 11 first-half UCR turnovers.
Bland led the all scorers with nine points at the break followed by Larsson and
Menno Dijkstra with eight apiece. Michael Warren paced the Matadors with eight points
Both teams struggled to find their offensive rhythm coming out of the break, scoring just four points each before the first media time out.
An 8-0 run midway through the second helped UCR to a 10-point lead, 60-50, with 7:54 remaining. The Highlanders also committed just four turnovers over the final 20 minutes of play, in building that double-digit cushion,
Johns finished with a 16-point, 12-rebound double-double, and Larsson and
Dijkstra combined to score 21 points and grab 11 rebounds out of the center position.
Kendall Smith finished with a team-high 17 points for the Matadors, 11 of which came in the second half.
The Highlanders remain on the road next week as they travel to UC Davis Thursday for a 7 pm PT tip against the Aggies.
