Riverside, CA – The UC Riverside Men's Basketball Team (7-19, 2-10) came up just short in its first overtime game of the season Saturday night, falling 74-69 to Hawaii (15-10, 6-6). Guards Chance Murray and Dikymbe Martin led the way with 21 and 18 points apiece, respectively.

KEY RUNS
After a DJ Sylvester triple put the Highlanders up 28-27 in the opening minutes of the second half, the Rainbow Warriors responded with a 13-2 run to take their largest lead of the final 20 minutes, 40-30.

UC Riverside trailed 51-45 with 6:27 to go, before a 10-2 run capped by a pair of acrobatic Chance Murray and-1 finishes awarded the Highlanders a slim 55-53 advantage.

It was a tough shooting night for Dikymbe Martin until the final minutes of regulation, when he hit his first three-pointer of the game to put UCR up 58-54. Unfortunately for the home side, Hawaii scored the final four points of the half to extend the game.

A frantic start to the overtime session yielded five lead changes and two ties, as Martin connected on his next three attempts from beyond the arc to keep the Highlanders close. Tied 69-69 with under a minute to go, the Rainbow Warriors would again close the period strong, scoring the final five points of the night.

GAME NOTES
Chance Murray surpassed the 20-point mark for the second time this season, putting up 15 points in the second half alone for his team-high 21. The senior was everywhere on defense, setting a new career-high with an astounding 7 steals to go along with 7 assists and 6 rebounds.

Tonight's game marked the first time that both Martin and senior Alex Larsson were in the starting lineup since January 11 against UC Davis. Martin ended the day with 18 points and 3 steals on 7-of-17 (.412) shooting overall and 4-of-9 (.444) from three-point range.

Larsson ended the day with 5 points and a team-high 8 rebounds in 18 minutes before fouling out with 3:23 remaining in regulation.

It was another solid outing off the bench for junior Menno Dijkstra, who added 9 points on 3-for-6 (.500) shooting. It was the fourth time in his last five outings that he scored eight or more points.

The Highlanders tied a season-high with 10 three-pointers (10-26 3FG), but allowed the Rainbow Warriors to go 14-of-28 (.500) themselves from deep, setting a new opponent conference season-high for UCR.

UC Riverside will remain home for its next contest against Cal State Fullerton next Wednesday, Feb. 21.