Thursday, March 13
Anaheim, CA
6:00 PM
University of California, Riverside
69
vs
81
Cal State Fullerton (Quarterfinals)
Men's Basketball's Postseason Run Ends In Quarterfinals With Loss To Cal State Fullerton
3/13/2008 5:16:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Anaheim, CA—Senior guard Larry Cunningham's game-high 23 points wasn't enough for the Highlanders who dropped their Big West Conference Tournament quarterfinal match-up with #3 seed Cal State Fullerton 81-69 Friday night.
UC Riverside's season ends with a record of 9-21 including the program's second ever post-season victory in the school's Division I history after beating Cal Poly in Wednesday's first round.
The Highlanders struggled to contain Fullerton's (22-8) outside weapons, as the Titans shot 60.0% in the second half and knocked down eight from behind the arc in the game. UCR battled hard despite committing 15 turnovers in the first half, and later settled into a groove and took care of the ball, committing only three turnovers in the second 20 minutes.
CSF used those 15 first-half Highlander mistakes and also took advantage of UCR's 9-of-25 (36.0%) first-half shooting to open up a 35-21 lead at the break.
Cunningham led the Riverside charge in the second half, as Riverside went on a 10-2 run to cut the Titan lead to nine, 50-41 at the 14:27 mark. Sophomore guard Sean Cunningham made a steal and dished to junior forward B.J. Visman who finished off the run with a fast-break layup.
That would be as close as UCR could get though, with the Fullerton offense continuing to hit their shots, UCR could not keep up up. No matter how tough of shots the Highlander defense forced the Titans into, the CSF shot would fall. One last Riverside push, capped by another Larry Cunningham three, cut it to 77-69 with 50 seconds left. CSF ended any hopes of a UCR comeback by making their final four free-throws to pick up the victory.
Junior forward Aaron Scott finished with 12 points and six boards along with fellow junior forward Christian Soto who battled hard down low all night long against the CSF big men, putting up 10 points and grabbing a team-high eight rebounds. UC Riverside's all-time leading scorer Larry Cunningham finishes his career with 1,502 points after producing back-to-back 23-point efforts in the two tournament games.
The nine wins this season ties the 2004-05 team for the second most wins in a season, since joining Division I.
UC Riverside's season ends with a record of 9-21 including the program's second ever post-season victory in the school's Division I history after beating Cal Poly in Wednesday's first round.
The Highlanders struggled to contain Fullerton's (22-8) outside weapons, as the Titans shot 60.0% in the second half and knocked down eight from behind the arc in the game. UCR battled hard despite committing 15 turnovers in the first half, and later settled into a groove and took care of the ball, committing only three turnovers in the second 20 minutes.
CSF used those 15 first-half Highlander mistakes and also took advantage of UCR's 9-of-25 (36.0%) first-half shooting to open up a 35-21 lead at the break.
Cunningham led the Riverside charge in the second half, as Riverside went on a 10-2 run to cut the Titan lead to nine, 50-41 at the 14:27 mark. Sophomore guard Sean Cunningham made a steal and dished to junior forward B.J. Visman who finished off the run with a fast-break layup.
That would be as close as UCR could get though, with the Fullerton offense continuing to hit their shots, UCR could not keep up up. No matter how tough of shots the Highlander defense forced the Titans into, the CSF shot would fall. One last Riverside push, capped by another Larry Cunningham three, cut it to 77-69 with 50 seconds left. CSF ended any hopes of a UCR comeback by making their final four free-throws to pick up the victory.
Junior forward Aaron Scott finished with 12 points and six boards along with fellow junior forward Christian Soto who battled hard down low all night long against the CSF big men, putting up 10 points and grabbing a team-high eight rebounds. UC Riverside's all-time leading scorer Larry Cunningham finishes his career with 1,502 points after producing back-to-back 23-point efforts in the two tournament games.
The nine wins this season ties the 2004-05 team for the second most wins in a season, since joining Division I.
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