NORTHRIDGE, Calif.—After falling in an overtime game to Long Beach State just a few days ago, the UC Riverside Basketball Team experienced another tough loss Wednesday night at CSUN. The two teams played a hard fought match that came down to the final seconds where the Matadors put in the game-winning shot with just 1.2 seconds to go to take the game 70-68.
To match the size of an athletic CSUN team, UCR came out with a with a bigger starting five throwing in both freshman Callum McRae and senior Menno Dijkstra giving them a duo of seven-footers on the block. The two Highlander bigs were joined by three guards in freshman DJ McDonald, sophomore Dominick Pickett, and junior Dikymbe Martin marking another new starting combo for the Highlanders.
The two-big strategy would pay off almost immediately in the first half as McRae was force in the post tallying 14 points on 5-of-9 shooting and six rebounds. Dijkstra gave the Highlanders the ability to stretch the floor hitting two early threes.
With the CSUN defense keying in on the Highlanders' leading scorer Martin, the junior guard found another way to hurt the Matadors dropping six assists and opening the floor up for UCR.
The offense was alive and well for both teams in the first 20 minutes of play as both teams shot an identical .470 from the field, but the 22-14 rebound advantage over the Matadors would lead UCR to a 38-33 lead heading to the locker rooms.
The Matadors emerged from the half with a sense of urgency quickly closing the gap and from there the two teams would exchange blows for much of the second half. With just under seven minutes to CSUN made its move capitalizing on poor ball security by the Highlanders, who tallied nine second half turnovers, to take its largest lead of the game 62-55.
Down the stretch, key buckets were sunk by both teams as UCR gave itself great opportunities to take the lead. Locked at 68-68, McRae would just miss a hook shot over two defenders and the Matadors made the most of the situation coming down and hitting the game-winning shot.
McRae finished with another career high night in points and rebounds notching his second straight double-double. The freshman led the team scoring 20 on 7-of-14 shooting and led all rebounders with 13. Martin and Dijkstra finished with 15 and 13, respectively.
UC Riverside will now look to bounce back this Saturday at home when the Highlanders host UC Irvine on senior night.
