UC Riverside
San Diego State
Highlanders Suffer Costly Loss to Aztecs
11/21/2006 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
The host San Diego State Aztecs handed the visiting UC Riverside Highlanders a 79-45 defeat in front of a crowd of 5,988 fans at the Cox Arena in San Diego Tuesday.
The Highlanders fall to 3-3 while SDSU improves to 6-0.
Henrik Thomsen led the Highlanders with 13 points and Justin Bell had 12 for the Highlanders. Kyle Spain led the Aztecs with 18 points on 6-of-6 shooting and 5-of-5 from the free throw line. Brandon Heath had 10 points. The Aztecs shot 52.6% in the game (30-of-57) and won the battle of the boards, 32-21.
UCR suffered a critical loss on the court when sophomore forward Benoit Bekono suffered an apparent injury to his right knee on a drive to the basket late in the second half. Bekono was taken from the court on a stretcher and will be evaluated after the game.
The Highlanders scored the first points of the game on a Thomsen three pointer, but the Aztecs answered with 15 straight points over the next four minutes to quickly build a double-figure lead. The Aztecs entered the intermission with a 45-20 advantage, as UCR shot 31.0% from the field (9-of-29). The bright spot was the play of Thomsen, who scored nine points in the half on 4-of-8 shooting.
The Highlanders improved their defensive play in the second half, limiting the Aztecs to 41.9% shooting from the field and 37.5% from beyond the arc, but the Aztecs had the game well in hand at that point.
