UC Riverside
Cal State Fullerton
Highlanders Handle Titans in Overtime, 78-73
2/4/2006 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Senior forward Klaus Schille had a career-high 23 points, including the team's first six points in overtime, and junior guard Dedrick Bates had a career-high 23 points as the UC Riverside Highlanders posted a thrilling 78-73 overtime win over the host Cal State Fullerton Titans in a Big West contest at Titan Gym in Fullerton Saturday afternoon.
The win snapped a five-game losing streak for the Highlanders and helped them improve to 3-16 overall and 3-5 in the Big West. The Titans are now 10-9 and 3-6 in the Big West.
Schille scored five points in the first minute of overtime, then sunk a free throw with 2:08 remaining to give the Highlanders a 72-71 lead. But it was his outstanding pass from the low block to wide open sophomore forward Richard Cobbs that gave the Highlanders a 74-71 lead with 1:10 left. The Titans' Bobby Brown had a pair of free throws with just over a minute left to cut the margin to one at 74-73, but sophomore guard Larry Cunningham drained four free throws over the final 26.1 seconds to ice the game for the HIghlanders.
Schille just missed a double-double with nine rebounds and Bates also had seven. Larry Cunningham had 10 points and five boards and Cobbs had six points and a season-high seven rebounds, including a clutch grab of a Bobby Brown miss at the end of regulation that helped send the game to overtime. UCR hit 28-of-66 (42.4%) overall and 21-of-25 (84.0%) from the free throw line, but hit just 1-of-9 (11.1%) from the three point line. Senior guard Rickey Porter had a career-high tying seven assists to go with his three points.
For the Titans, Jamaal Brown had a double-double with 19 points and 12 rebounds and Bobby Brown had 21 points, 19 coming in the second half. The Titans shot 25-of-65 (38.5%) from the field, but were just 2-of-20 (10.0%) from the three point line. They were 21-of-28 (75.0%) from the free throw line. Fullerton committed 19 turnovers, but outrebounded UCR, 48-38
The Titans led 41-38 at halftime despite the Herculean efforts of Bates, who had a near-career high by halftime. He scored half of the Highlanders' points in the half on 9-of-13 shooting. At the same time, he played outstanding defense on Titan leading scorer Bobby Brown, helping to hold him to two points in the half.
The Titans led by as many as six in the half, taking a 30-24 advantage on a trey by Jermaine Harper with 6:29 left. But the Highlanders came back with an 8-0 run, tying the game on a pair of senior guard Steve Williams free throws, then stealing the Titan inbounds and getting a Schille rebound basket for a 32-30 lead with 5:08 left. The Titans built the margin back to five, only to see UCR come back and cut the margin to one on a pair of occasions. However, the Titans took a three-point lead into halftime as the Highlanders couldn't score on the final possession of the half.
