RIVERSIDE, Calif.— Wednesday night marked the conference opener for the UC Riverside Men's Basketball Team (6-11, 0-1) as the Highlanders hosted the CSUN Matadors (7-10, 1-0) in hard fought battle that came down to the final shot. UCR would take the advantage in the first half, but in the end CSUN would take it 84-83.

"I thought we did a good job of setting the tone in the first half, but we didn't have the same success in the second," Head Coach David Patrick. "In conference you hope to win at home and steal a few on the road, so now we have to go out and grab one ourselves."

The Highlanders hit hard late in the first half stretching their lead out to as much as 10 after trading off points with the Matadors for the first 10 minutes of action. UCR would pour in 40 points on .469 shooting thanks to a hot start from beyond the arc. The team notched eight threes on its way to a to a 14-for-30 performance from outside, which is the third most by any Highlander team in the program's Division I history.

Junior Dikymbe Martin led all scorers at the half hitting 4-of-5 from deep and totaling 16 points as UCR headed to the lockers up 40-33.

After scoring just 33 in the first half, CSUN found the net quicker in the second closing the gap and taking its first lead of the game with 15 minutes to go. The Matadors would match their largest lead of eight with five minutes to go, but the Highlanders never quit as Martin and freshman Dragan Elkaz kept their team alive with a pair of clutch threes and free throws.

With just five seconds to go UCR trailed by one and caught a rebound off a missed Matador free throw. The Highlanders would pass it to Martin in the front court who pulled up for three at the buzzer, but would just miss left to end the game.

The Highlander offense enjoyed a solid performance hitting the 80-point mark for the third time this season and shooting 47% from both the field and from three. The team also hit well from the stripe missing just one of its 16 free throws.

Martin would finish with a season high 25 points, six assists, four rebounds, and two steals. Senior Menno Dijkstra added 14 points, six rebounds, and two assists.

"25 points is 25 points, but it means nothing without the win," Martin said. "This one is behind us now and my mind is set on what we have to do to win the next game."

UCR will take on its first road challenge of Big West play this weekend as the Highlanders head to UC Santa Barbara for a Saturday night matchup.