Thursday, February 26
Student Recreation Center
7:00 PM
University of California, Riverside
63
vs
60
Cal State Fullerton
Photo by: Bobby R. Hester, (c) 2009
UCR Men's Basketball Clinches First D-I Winning Record With Win Over CSF
2/26/2009 9:57:44 PM | Men's Basketball
UC Riverside 63, Cal State Fullerton 60 - Box Score
An already historic season for the UC Riverside men's basketball team continues to accumulate new firsts, and Thursday night at the UCR Student Recreation Center was no different. The Highlanders paid tribute to their two seniors, Aaron Scott and Christian Soto, in pregame festivities, and honored their longime fans by clinching their first-ever winning season as a Division I program with a 63-60 win over Cal State Fullerton. The win gives the Highlanders 16 wins on the year against just 10 defeats.
In typical UCR fashion, the Highlanders needed to grind it out at the end with key defensive stops, aggressive rebounding and timely shooting to secure the victory. They are now 9-1 in games decided by five points or less on the year.
The second meeting between the Highlanders and Titans looked quite a bit like the first. On Feb. 1 at CSF, UC Riverside took a five-point lead into the locker room at the half. On Thursday evening, the Highlanders took a five-point lead into the locker room at the half. On Feb. 1 at CSF, neither team led by more than seven points the entire way and there were six ties in the game. On Thursday evening, neither team led by more than six points the entire way and there were six ties in the game.
The difference on Thursday over the final several possessions came on the defensive end of the floor for the Highlanders. Trailing by one, 58-57, with 3:54 to go, UCR clamped down and held the Titans to just two points the rest of the way as Cal State Fullerton's final eight possessions of the game featured four turnovers, two missed shots and a missed free throw.
Kyle Austin's jumper with 2:24 remaining gave UCR a 59-58 lead and gave Austin his 21st point of the game to go along with 10 boards. Sean Cunningham picked Marcio Lassiter's pocket with 1:22 to go and gave the Highlanders a three-point lead with a fastbreak layup. And finally, freshman David Chavarria, seeing his first extended minutes of the season due in part to a knee injury that kept Scott out of the game, drained two free throws to push the UCR advantage back to three at 63-60 with under a minute to play.
On the night, the Highlanders held Titans' leading scorer Josh Akognon to just six of 20 shooting from the field. Cal State Fullerton connected on 30 percent of their three-pointers and 53.8 percent of their shots from the free throw line on the night.
UC Riverside, meanwhile, enjoyed one of its most productive nights of the year from three-point range making 10 of 21. Six different players made at least one three in the game led by Brandon Dowdy's three of six shooting from beyond the arc. Soto, playing in his final home game for the Highlanders chipped in with 9 rebounds to help UCR out-board the Titans 40-30.
UC Riverside plays its final three regular season games away from the friendly confines of the SRC beginning Saturday at UC Irvine for a 7:30 pm tip.
An already historic season for the UC Riverside men's basketball team continues to accumulate new firsts, and Thursday night at the UCR Student Recreation Center was no different. The Highlanders paid tribute to their two seniors, Aaron Scott and Christian Soto, in pregame festivities, and honored their longime fans by clinching their first-ever winning season as a Division I program with a 63-60 win over Cal State Fullerton. The win gives the Highlanders 16 wins on the year against just 10 defeats.
In typical UCR fashion, the Highlanders needed to grind it out at the end with key defensive stops, aggressive rebounding and timely shooting to secure the victory. They are now 9-1 in games decided by five points or less on the year.
The second meeting between the Highlanders and Titans looked quite a bit like the first. On Feb. 1 at CSF, UC Riverside took a five-point lead into the locker room at the half. On Thursday evening, the Highlanders took a five-point lead into the locker room at the half. On Feb. 1 at CSF, neither team led by more than seven points the entire way and there were six ties in the game. On Thursday evening, neither team led by more than six points the entire way and there were six ties in the game.
The difference on Thursday over the final several possessions came on the defensive end of the floor for the Highlanders. Trailing by one, 58-57, with 3:54 to go, UCR clamped down and held the Titans to just two points the rest of the way as Cal State Fullerton's final eight possessions of the game featured four turnovers, two missed shots and a missed free throw.
Kyle Austin's jumper with 2:24 remaining gave UCR a 59-58 lead and gave Austin his 21st point of the game to go along with 10 boards. Sean Cunningham picked Marcio Lassiter's pocket with 1:22 to go and gave the Highlanders a three-point lead with a fastbreak layup. And finally, freshman David Chavarria, seeing his first extended minutes of the season due in part to a knee injury that kept Scott out of the game, drained two free throws to push the UCR advantage back to three at 63-60 with under a minute to play.
On the night, the Highlanders held Titans' leading scorer Josh Akognon to just six of 20 shooting from the field. Cal State Fullerton connected on 30 percent of their three-pointers and 53.8 percent of their shots from the free throw line on the night.
UC Riverside, meanwhile, enjoyed one of its most productive nights of the year from three-point range making 10 of 21. Six different players made at least one three in the game led by Brandon Dowdy's three of six shooting from beyond the arc. Soto, playing in his final home game for the Highlanders chipped in with 9 rebounds to help UCR out-board the Titans 40-30.
UC Riverside plays its final three regular season games away from the friendly confines of the SRC beginning Saturday at UC Irvine for a 7:30 pm tip.
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Friday, May 01
UCR Athletics Director Introductory Full Press Conference
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