RIVERSIDE, Calif. - UC Riverside opened its regular season home slate on Sunday afternoon with single-minded defense and a breakthrough outing from Wil Tattersall en route to a convincing 72-54 win over La Sierra at the SRC Arena.
The Highlanders held La Sierra to under 35 percent shooting en route to the win.
Uncharacteristic cold shooting from the Highlanders had UCR and La Sierra tied at just four seven minutes into Sunday's matinee, but a shift in approach to dribble penetration and a three from Dragan Elkaz created separation for UC Riverside with an 11-6 lead midway through the first half.
UCR embarked on a 6-0 run midway through the opening half after Flynn Cameron picked up where he left off with a three to extend the lead to 14-6. Magpayo kept La Sierra guessing with nine Highlanders already used through 12 minutes.
La Sierra went on a 7-0 run to cut things close, but Callum McRae cleaned up a miss from Zyon Pullin to keep UCR ahead with seven minutes and change remaining until the intermission.
JP Moorman II finished a dunk with three minutes to go until halftime to give UCR a more comfortable 10-point lead over their NAIA foes. The transfer's emphatic finish energized UCR to close the half on a 17-4 run with that included three of four made threes down the stretch and seven points from Wil Tattersall in the Aussie's first start of the season.
Defensively, the Highlanders held La Sierra to 23 percent shooting at the half while outscoring the Golden Eagles 14-6 in the paint and 11-4 off the bench.
A different offensive form out of halftime helped UCR control the tempo and dominate in the latter 20 minutes. Tattersall entered double-digit scoring for the first time since January of last season, coming one point short of a career high with 18 while five different Highlanders connected at least once from downtown.
Tattersall joined Cameron and a lights-out Dragan Elkaz others in double figures for UCR. Elkaz was one of the five to connect from downtown. In fact, he refused to miss from downtown on Sunday - Elkaz converted on five of six threes for 15 points on the afternoon.
UC Riverside continued to clamp down on defense, holding the Golden Eagles to under 35 percent shooting on the afternoon
UCR goes back on the road on Wednesday, November 17 for a 7:30 p.m. matchup at San Diego. The tangle with the Toreros will be broadcast live on GoHighlanders.com and live stats will be available at usdtoreros.com.
