Thursday, January 30
Northridge, CA
7:00 PM
University of California, Riverside
89
at
93
Cal State Northridge
Photo by: Carlos Puma
Sam Finley Scores Career-High 27 Points In 93-89 Overtime Loss At Northridge
1/30/2014 9:51:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Northridge, CA—The UC Riverside Men's Basketball Team went toe-to-toe with Cal State Northridge for 45 minutes Thursday evening with both teams shooting better than 50 percent from the floor, but the Matadors fended off three late Highlanders field goal attempts to secure the 93-89 overtime victory (box score).
UC Riverside (7-14, 2-5) scored seven of the final 10 points of regulation to force OT after leading by as many as nine midway through the second half. The Highlanders controlled the tap for the extra period, scoring on a Taylor Johns lay up to go up 82-80, but the lead would change hands five more times before the final buzzer.
UCR was down two, 91-89, with under a minute to go when Chris Patton was fouled in the paint. He missed both free throws, but the Highlanders regained possession in the ensuing scramble for the ball. Johns' jumper was off the mark, but the ball bounced out of bounds off of a Matadors (11-11, 3-4) player and UC Riverside had time for one last play with 15.6 ticks left on the clock.
Sam FInley drove the lane, but his jumper was too hard off the iron, and this time the ball was awarded to the Matadors who broke the Highlanders press and scored the final points of the game on a breakway dunk.
Finley extended his streak of consecutive double-digit scoring efforts, leading the Highlanders with a career-high 27 points, while Johns added 16, Steven Thornton chipped in with 14 and Patton scored 13.
UC Riverside led by nine, 68-59, with 9:10 remaining when the Matadors began to climb back into the game. A 7-0 run over the next two-and-a-half minutes made it a two-point UCR lead, 68-66. A Finley free throw ended the run, but back-to-back Matadors long balls put Northridge back on top, 72-71 with just under five minutes to go.
A pair of Johns free throws on the Highlanders' next possesion made it 73-72 UCR, but the Matadors scored the next five points to take a four-point lead with 3:05 on the clock.
UC Riverside wasnt done, however, as four more Finley free throws sandwiched around a Northridge free throw cut the lead to one, 78-77. Two possessiosn later, Josh Greene made two from the charity stripe to put the Matadors up three, 80-77 with 33 seconds remaining.
As the Highlanders pushed the ball up the floor, Steven Jones was fouled crossing the timeline, and was removed from the game with an injury. That allowed the Matadors to select who would shoot the free throws for the Highlanders, and they tabbed Johns to step to the line. The sophomore made one of two to make it a two-point game, 80-78, and the Highlanders forced a turnover with 25.7 seconds on the clock as the Matadors tried to inbound the ball.
UC Riverside Head Coach Dennis Cutts called his final time out, and Finley scored on a lay up with 16.1 remaining to tie the score at 80, and send the game into overtime.
Jones, who scored six of the Highlanders' final 10 points in their come-from behind win over Cal Poly on Saturday, scored the first basket of the game Thursday. But UCR missed its next three shots and committed a pair of turnovers as the Matadors streaked to a 10-2 lead wth three minutes gone in the game.
Chris Harriel ended the 10-0 CSUN run with an old-fashioned three-point play, and the Highlanders tied the score at 14 four minutes later on a Thornton three-pointer. A pair of Finley free throws put UC Riverside back on top, and back-to-back threes from Jones and Colin Gruber made it 22-16 Highlanders with 10:16 remaining in the first.
That forced Northridge coach Reggie Theus to call time out, but UC Riverside was able to maintain its advantage throughout the rest of the period taking a 49-43 lead into the locker room.
After opening the half by making just one of four shots, the Highlanders drilled 17 of 21 the rest of the way, led by 12 from Finley, 11 from Thornton, nine from Patton and seven from Jones. UC Riverside also connected on seven of 11 from long distance
The Matadors were almost as hot making 57.1 percent of their shots form the floor including six of nine from beyond the arc. Landon Drew's 11 points paced Cal State Northridge at the break.
Both teams cooled off to start the second, with the Highlanders missing four of their first five shots, and the Matadors going four for nine from the floor, but Northridge pounded the glass grabbing eight of the first nine rebounds, and retook the lead, 53-52, on an Aaron Parks three-point play with 16:05 remaining.
Just like they did in the first half, however, the Highlanders found their rhythm after the first media timeout using a 13-2 run to turn a three-point Northridge advantage into an eight-point UCR lead at 65-57.
The Highlanders are off this weekend, but return to Big West action next week with a pair of home games that will be broadcast on ESPN3—vs. Cal State Fullerton on Thursday, February 6 and Long Beach State on Saturday, February 8. Both games tip off at 7 pm.
UC Riverside (7-14, 2-5) scored seven of the final 10 points of regulation to force OT after leading by as many as nine midway through the second half. The Highlanders controlled the tap for the extra period, scoring on a Taylor Johns lay up to go up 82-80, but the lead would change hands five more times before the final buzzer.
UCR was down two, 91-89, with under a minute to go when Chris Patton was fouled in the paint. He missed both free throws, but the Highlanders regained possession in the ensuing scramble for the ball. Johns' jumper was off the mark, but the ball bounced out of bounds off of a Matadors (11-11, 3-4) player and UC Riverside had time for one last play with 15.6 ticks left on the clock.
Sam FInley drove the lane, but his jumper was too hard off the iron, and this time the ball was awarded to the Matadors who broke the Highlanders press and scored the final points of the game on a breakway dunk.
Finley extended his streak of consecutive double-digit scoring efforts, leading the Highlanders with a career-high 27 points, while Johns added 16, Steven Thornton chipped in with 14 and Patton scored 13.
UC Riverside led by nine, 68-59, with 9:10 remaining when the Matadors began to climb back into the game. A 7-0 run over the next two-and-a-half minutes made it a two-point UCR lead, 68-66. A Finley free throw ended the run, but back-to-back Matadors long balls put Northridge back on top, 72-71 with just under five minutes to go.
A pair of Johns free throws on the Highlanders' next possesion made it 73-72 UCR, but the Matadors scored the next five points to take a four-point lead with 3:05 on the clock.
UC Riverside wasnt done, however, as four more Finley free throws sandwiched around a Northridge free throw cut the lead to one, 78-77. Two possessiosn later, Josh Greene made two from the charity stripe to put the Matadors up three, 80-77 with 33 seconds remaining.
As the Highlanders pushed the ball up the floor, Steven Jones was fouled crossing the timeline, and was removed from the game with an injury. That allowed the Matadors to select who would shoot the free throws for the Highlanders, and they tabbed Johns to step to the line. The sophomore made one of two to make it a two-point game, 80-78, and the Highlanders forced a turnover with 25.7 seconds on the clock as the Matadors tried to inbound the ball.
UC Riverside Head Coach Dennis Cutts called his final time out, and Finley scored on a lay up with 16.1 remaining to tie the score at 80, and send the game into overtime.
Jones, who scored six of the Highlanders' final 10 points in their come-from behind win over Cal Poly on Saturday, scored the first basket of the game Thursday. But UCR missed its next three shots and committed a pair of turnovers as the Matadors streaked to a 10-2 lead wth three minutes gone in the game.
Chris Harriel ended the 10-0 CSUN run with an old-fashioned three-point play, and the Highlanders tied the score at 14 four minutes later on a Thornton three-pointer. A pair of Finley free throws put UC Riverside back on top, and back-to-back threes from Jones and Colin Gruber made it 22-16 Highlanders with 10:16 remaining in the first.
That forced Northridge coach Reggie Theus to call time out, but UC Riverside was able to maintain its advantage throughout the rest of the period taking a 49-43 lead into the locker room.
After opening the half by making just one of four shots, the Highlanders drilled 17 of 21 the rest of the way, led by 12 from Finley, 11 from Thornton, nine from Patton and seven from Jones. UC Riverside also connected on seven of 11 from long distance
The Matadors were almost as hot making 57.1 percent of their shots form the floor including six of nine from beyond the arc. Landon Drew's 11 points paced Cal State Northridge at the break.
Both teams cooled off to start the second, with the Highlanders missing four of their first five shots, and the Matadors going four for nine from the floor, but Northridge pounded the glass grabbing eight of the first nine rebounds, and retook the lead, 53-52, on an Aaron Parks three-point play with 16:05 remaining.
Just like they did in the first half, however, the Highlanders found their rhythm after the first media timeout using a 13-2 run to turn a three-point Northridge advantage into an eight-point UCR lead at 65-57.
The Highlanders are off this weekend, but return to Big West action next week with a pair of home games that will be broadcast on ESPN3—vs. Cal State Fullerton on Thursday, February 6 and Long Beach State on Saturday, February 8. Both games tip off at 7 pm.
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