CORVALLIS, Ore.— Tuesday night would prove to be a battle for the UC Riverside Men's Basketball Team as the Highlanders opened up their 2018-2019 season on the road at Oregon State. UCR pressured the Beavers all night, but fell behind in the final 10 minutes and eventually fell 72-59 at Gill Coliseum.
"First and foremost you always want your team to compete, that is the main goal," Head Coach David Patrick said. "No matter what the score is, up or down, you have to play through the final whistle and I thought they did that tonight. There was a stretch where we were down and we could've let the lead grow to twenty-plus, but they kept fighting. That resiliency and relentlessness gives us a chance to win any game."
The Beavers got out to a quick start taking 13-3 lead, but a Patrick timeout would ignite the Highlander offense as freshman guard Dragan Elkaz quickly answered with a deep three for his first career field goal. Junior guard Dikymbe Martin would then turn a steal into a fast-break and-one bucket to cut the lead to four.
Both teams would trade off from there until Oregon State held a 23-14 lead with under five minutes to play in the half, but this was just beginning of UC Riverside's efforts. Behind more offensive brilliance form Martin and Elkaz, the Highlanders would cut the lead to one after another Elkaz three dropped in with just 33 seconds left. UCR would head into the locker room on an 11-5 run making keeping the score close at 28-27.
"We don't have guys that are playing scared, which is a great way to go on runs," Patrick said. "They're playing looser, with a freedom, so hopefully we can take that and improve the next time out."
The Highlanders would take its first lead of the game just 30 seconds into the 2nd half off a three from sophomore Jordan Gilliam and would hold on until both teams were iced at 35-35. From there the Beavers would string together a few quick runs and never looked back taking the season opener 72-59.
Martin, last year's leading scorer, topped UCR's offensive efforts gathering 20 points off of 7/11 (.636) shooting and added three from behind the arc. The junior also dished out three assists and saw a lot of time on the floor collecting a team-high 36 minutes.
"Dikymbe is great player and since dya one we have fought him on getting to two feet and making the right decision whether its shot or pass," Patrick said. "For me, him having zero turnovers was the huge factor. About two weeks ago in practice the light really turned on for him and he transformed that into the game today."
Gilliam setup his teammates all night registering five assists and a pair of freshman in Callum McRae and Zac Watson led the rebound battle with six and five, respectively.
The next stop for the Highlanders is Portland State this Saturday night before heading to UNLV for a Tuesday night matchup.
"We have to continue to grow and get better everyday," Patrick said. "If we take care of the ball like we did tonight with our guard play, we give ourselves a chance to come up and compete on the road."
