Box Score Abilene, TX—Alex Larsson scored the first basket of the game and the UC Riverside Men's Basketball Team never trailed the rest of the way as the Highlanders (6-5) picked up their second road win of the season, 60-56, at Abilene Christian (4-6).
That's not to say the game was without drama, as The Wildcats cut the UCR lead to three with under a minute to go, but Taylor Johns hit a free throw on UCR's last offensive possession to seal the victory.
UC Riverside played almost flawlessly in the early going staking itself to a 23-7 lead with 9:53 to go. During that time, the Highlanders connected on nine of 12 shots including two of three from long distance; forced the Wildcats to miss their first seven three-pointers; and won the rebound battle, 12-4.
Menno Dijkstra played a key role early making all three of his shots including a pair of nifty jump hooks in the paint. Secean Johnson, Alex Larsson and Jaylen Bland each scored five during that run, going a combined six for six from the floor.
The Highlanders increased their lead to 16 on two occasions in the period, but began to struggle offensively late as a 9-2 ACU run in the latter half of the first sliced the lead to seven, 27-20. UC Riverside missed nine of its final 12 shots of the half, but scored the last four points as the Wildcats went scoreless over the final 4:04.
Bland and Johnson paced the Highlanders with seven points each in the first, while Jovan Crnic's nine led Abilene Christian. UC Riverside held the Wildcats top two scorers coming into the game, Jaylen Franklin (13.8) and Parker Wentz (10.1), to just one point, as the pair went 0 for 9 from the floor.
Abilene Christian scored seven of the first eight points coming out of intermission, but the Highlanders countered by scoring the next seven. UCR's lead vacillated between seven and 13 from then on out until the 3:34 mark when Jaren Lewis capped a 6-0 ACU run with a pair of free throws to make it a 57-51 game.
A Malik Thames jumper with 3:05 on the clock snapped the run, but a Franklin bucket and Duran Porter free throw cut the advantage to five, 59-54, with 53 seconds remaining
The Wildcats had committed just three fouls in the half up to that point, so they spent the next 15 seconds fouling as the Highlanders advanced the ball up the court.
Their seventh foul of the period, with 38 seconds remaining, sent Johns to the free throw line where he missed the front end of a one-and-one. Abilene Christian raced down the court and Crnic's lay up with 33 seconds left made it a three-point game, 59-56.
On UC Riverside's next possession, ACU fouled Bland. The senior, who entered the game making 81.0 percent of his freebies on the year, also missed the front end of a one-and-one. Wentz launched a three-pointer with 10 seconds left on the clock which was off the mark, and Johns secured the rebound before getting fouled. He made one of two with eight seconds to go to help the Highlanders move back over the .500 mark.
Bland led the Highlanders with 14 points, while Johnson chipped in with 10. Crnic paced the Wildcats with 18 and was joined in double figures by Hayden Howell with 10.
UC Riverside returns home for a pair of games at the SRC Arena this week before taking a break for the holidays. Life Pacific comes to the Inland Empire on Sunday, December 20 for a 5 pm PT tip, and on Tuesday, December 22, the Highlanders host Denver at 7 pm.
