Box Score Riverside—Five different players scored in double figures for the UC Riverside Men's Basketball Team Thursday evening, but cold shooting in the second half sent the Highlanders to a 78-71 loss to Long Beach State.

The defeat dropped the Highlanders into fifth place in the Big West, while the 49ers moved into a three-way tie for third with CSUN and Hawai'i.

Dikymbe Martin paced the UCR (7-14, 5-5) offense for the fifth straight game, scoring 16 points. Eleven of those points came in the first half, however, as the freshman missed six of eight shots after the intermission. He wasn't the only member of the team who struggled after the break. Chance Murray missed seven of eight shots over the final 20 minutes of play, and Secean Johnson misfired on five of seven.

As a team, UCR made 11 of 34 shots from the field in the second, propped up by Menno Dijkstra's three-for three effort, and Brandon Rosser's four for six.

The Highlanders' struggles helped the 49ers (11-15, 6-4) turn a one-point halftime deficit into a 10-point lead with 4:54 to go. It was still a double-digit Long Beach State with 4:16 on the clock, when the Highlanders scored six straight points to slice the advantage to four. That was as close as they would get however, as the Beach made six straight free throws down the stretch to seal the victory.

Long Beach State led by as many as nine points in the first half, but the Highlanders roared back late in the period, tying the score at 31, and taking a 42-41 lead into the locker room. Martin made four of six shots in the first, and Alex Larsson went four-for four to pace the UCR comeback.

The Highlanders head to UC Davis this Saturday, February 11 for a 5 pm PT tip against the Aggies.