Riverside—The UC Riverside Men's Basketball Team got a 25-point, 10-rebound performance out of Taylor Johns Saturday night, but it wasn't enough as the Highlanders dropped an 86-78 decision to visiting Cal Poly.

The Highlanders (13-14, 4-7) scored the first seven points of the game, but the Mustangs netted 11 of the next 15 to tie the score at 11. UCR quickly regained the lead, but an 8-0 run late in the first put Cal Poly (9-15, 3-8) on top for good.

Leading by five at the break, the Mustangs went on an 18-6 run to start the second, opening up their biggest lead of the night at 17, 58-41.

UC Riverside wasn't done, though, as the Highlanders cut the lead to single digits with 12:10 to go. Six minutes later, it was just a six-point Mustags advantage, and with 2:41 on the clock a Johns lay up and free throw sliced the lead to three, 71-68.

But Cal Poly connected on 11 of 13 free throws down the stretch to help keep the Highlanders at bay.

Johns scored 14 of his game-high 25 points in the first half, and he and Malik Thames each scored 11 after the intermission.

David Nwaba led five Mustangs in double figures with 21 points on eight of 12 shooting from the field.

The Highlanders conclude their four-game home stand Thursday evening with an 8 pm PT tip against UC Santa Barbara.