VALPARAISO, Ind.— Sunday morning, the UC Riverside Men's Basketball Team competed in a hard fought battle on the road as the Highlanders took on Valparaiso. Despite tremendous second half efforts, UCR could not complete the comeback falling 82-73.
"What I saw the most of today was growth by our team," Head Coach David Patrick. "Our guys took on what was asked of them and came onto to someone else's home court and competed for a full 40 minutes."
The Crusaders jumped out to a quick 10-2 lead to start the game, but the Highlanders would hold strong battling back with a run of their own to cut the lead to as little as four. The two teams would trade baskets for a large portion of the first 20 minutes, but Valpo would find its rhythm towards the end stretching its lead out to 30-16.
UCR found success crashing the offensive glass in the first half grabbing six offensive boards, which allowed them to retain possessions and capitalize on a few second chance points. The Highlanders would chip away at the 14 point Crusader lead and would head to locker room down 44-35.
"We made it a point to crash the boards offensively early in the game and found got a couple opportunities," Patrick said. "Jordan Gilliam and Dominick Pickett did a great job, but we missed some easy ones. The main thing here is that they responded and answered the game plan well."
Junior guard Dikymbe Martin ended the first half with nine points, three boards, and an assist, while freshman center Callum McRae added seven points of his own in just 10 minutes off the bench.
The second half was different story as the Highlanders put together several runs, forced Valpo turnovers and made clutch baskets after stops. UCR got within five points with just under three minutes to go, but a veteran Crusader team's potent offense continued to convert and held off the Highlander surge to take the game 82-73.
UC Riverside was able to take care of the ball turning it over just eight times, and that led them to an efficient .441 shooting performance from the field with a similar mark from behind the arc at .435. Valpo's offense was just too comfortable shooting in its own gym as the Crusaders shot .600.
Every Highlander that stepped on the floor scored five or more points showing off the team's ability to share the ball. Martin led the way with a season high 21 points on 8-of-15 shooting and freshman guard Dragan Elkaz added 12 more shooting 4-of-5 from three.
"We are a very unselfish team first and foremost which helps us score the way did tonight," Patrick said. "We all know that DK can score, but he has bought in to the idea that we need to share the ball to win games and it has made our team hard to scout."
The Highlanders will now return home to face Pepperdine this Thursday at 7PM at the SRC Arena.
