Gurganious' Buzzer Beater Lifts Men's Basketball Past Sac State 59-58

Saturday, November 28

Sacramento, CA

1:05 PM

UC Riverside

Sacramento State

Gurganious' Buzzer Beater Lifts Men's Basketball Past Sac State 59-58

11/28/2009 11:47:39 AM | Men's Basketball

Sacramento, CA - Larry Gurganious' jumper at the buzzer gave the UC Riverside men's basketball team a 59-58 win at Sacramento State on Saturday afternoon at the Hornets Nest. The Highlanders improve to 3-2 on the year and move above .500 for the first time of the season.

Trailing by two with 0:53 seconds to go, UCR's Brandon Dowdy drained a three-pointer to give the Highlanders a 57-56 lead. Thirty seconds later, a UCR foul put Sultan Toles-Bey at the line for the Hornets (3-4), and two made free throws gave Sac State a 58-57 lead with 0:24 seconds remaining.

Down to the their last shot of the game, Dowdy's jumper with four seconds to go clanged off the back of the iron, but Gurganious (pictured) grabbed the rebound amid the scuffle of players and layed it back in the net as the buzzer sounded, giving UC Riverside the 59-58 win.

This win against Sacramento State gives the Highlanders their first road victory of the 2009-10 season and a three-game winning streak -- their longest since they won four in a row early in the 2008-09 campaign.

Kyle Austin led UCR with 12 points while Dowdy added 11. Gurganious and David Chavarria grabbed a game-high 10 rebounds as the Highlanders won the battle of the boards 46-28 over the Hornets.

Both teams opened up the ball game cold as neither squad could dent the net until Austin's jumper gave the Highlanders a 2-0 lead at the 16:22 mark. A bucket by the Hornets 22 seconds later tied things at two, but UC Riverside slowly built a seven point lead, 11-4, on another Austin jumper with just over 11 minutes remaining in the half.

The Highlanders then pushed their lead out to nine at three different junctures over the next few minutes, including a 20-11 lead at the 5:12 mark on a Sean Cunningham layup. Sac State, though, used an 8-2 run to cut the lead to three, 22-19, with just under three minutes to go in the first period. Two free throws from Bryson Hampton at the 2:03 mark gave UCR a five-point lead, 24-19, heading into the locker room.

UCR's lead in the second half fluctuated between two and seven points until two free throws by Sac State's Justin Eller put the Hornets within one, 46-45, with 7:11 to go in the game. A minute later, the Hornets took their first lead of the game, 47-46, off two more free throws.

UCR responded with two Austin free throws as the Highlanders retook the lead, 48-47, but two consecutive buckets gave Sac State their largest margin of the game, a 52-48 lead with just under five minutes remaining.

The Highlanders got to within one on two more occasions before Dowdy's three-pointer with 0:53 seconds to go gave UCR a 57-56 lead.

UC Riverside shot 38.9 percent (21-of-54) from the field while limiting the Hornets to 36.5 percent (19-of-52) shooting. The Highlanders also out shot Sac State from three-point range, 30.8 percent (4-of-13) compared to 23.8 percent (5-of-21), while also hitting more free throws than the Hornets, 72.2 percent (13-of-18) to 57.7 percent (15-of-26).

The Highlanders begin the month of December with two home contests at the Student Recreation Center. UCR faces off against CSU Bakersfield on Wednesday, Dec. 2 at 7:00 pm, followed by a game against San Diego at 8:00 pm on Friday, Dec. 4. Fans may follow both games live via live stats or listen to the voice of the Highlanders, John Ramey, as he calls the game live right here at gohighlanders.com.