Beaumont, TX—After watching the entirety of a 20-point, first-half lead disappear with 10:15 to go in the second, the UC Riverside Men's Basketball Team regrouped, scoring 10 of the final 15 points of the game en route to a 74-69 win at Lamar Sunday afternoon.
It is the first road win of the season for the Highlanders who improved to 4-2 on the year.
The Highlanders led by as many as 20 late in the first half, and boasted a 14-point lead at the break, but the Cardinals came out of the locker room reinvigorated, scoring 18 of the first 22 points to tie the score at 47. UC Riverside, who entered the game averaging the eighth fewest turnovers per game in the nation, committed six miscues during the run, and Robert Boezeman, Secean Johnson and Alex Larsson each picked up their third and fourth personal fouls.
Two possessions later, Lamar took its first lead of the game thanks to a Kevin Booze lay in with 8:38 on the clock. It was the only basket of the game for the sophomore guard, who entered the day as the Cardinals leading scorer.
Neither team led by more than five the rest of the way, and the game was still knotted at 64 with 2:38 to go. Secean Johnson broke the tie, making one of two free throws with 2:04 left. After a Cardinals turnover, he drained a three-pointer with the shot clock on his back to put UC Riverside up by four. The Highlanders would never trail again, holding on for the five-point win.
UC Riverside's defense, which struggled Friday at Rice, did a complete 180 in the first half as the Cardinals missed 22 of 30 shots over the first 20 minutes and committed 11 turnovers. Meanwhile, the Highlanders were connecting at a 50.0-percent clip from the field and from long distance, in building their 14-points halftime advantage.
Jaylen Bland led all scorers with 25 points, although he started slowly missing his first five shots on the day. Malik Thames joined him in double figures with 13 points. UCR shot 46.6 percent from the field, but just 39.3 percent after the break. The Highlanders also committed a season-high 18 turnovers, and gave up 21 offensive rebounds. That helped Lamar overcome a 35.5 percent shooting night, including 15.8 percent from long range.
UC Riverside returns to the Inland Empire this week to host Northern Colorado on Thursday, December 3 beginning at 7 pm PT, before traveling to LMU on Sunday, December 6 for a 3 pm tip against the Lions.
