RIVERSIDE, Calif. - UC Riverside returned to the win column on Sunday afternoon at the SRC Arena with a dramatic 81-79 overtime win over St. Thomas.  

HOW IT HAPPENED 

• UC Riverside's defense was quick out of the chute, holding St. Thomas to just 14.3% from the floor early with a 15-2 lead. 
• The Highlanders re-established a double-digit advantage with a corner three from Nate Pickens after the Tommies began to find their offense.  
• UCR's lead doubled with a fastbreak layup from Barrington Hargress, who led all scorers after a wire-to-wire first half. 
• Kaleb Smith put a pin in St. Thomas' comeback effort at both ends of the floor with a defensive rebound and an and one at 13:41 of the second half.  
• Rikus Schulte checked in briefly and nudged UCR's advantage back to double digits with a driving layup and two rebounds in four minutes.  
• Joel Armotrading forced a turnover just inside the six-minute mark of the second half and Hargress knocked down back-to-back jumpers to keep UCR in the driver's seat. St. Thomas bounced back with its first tie of the contest before Smith's contested basket restored a brief lead at 1:59.  
• The back-and-forth drama only continued. Armotrading knocked down two free throws with 25.5 seconds left to make it a one-possession game, and St. Thomas' full-court heave to kill time backfired. Isaiah Moses then sank two freebies of his own to create a 73-all game with 17 ticks on the clock.  
• Armotrading recovered a loose ball up top and Smith muscled in for go-ahead bucket before Nate Pickens iced the game at the line.  

NOTABLES 

• The Highlanders inched closer to 1,000 program victories with win number 999. 
• UCR held the Tommies to a cold 1 of 11 from three in the first half and 1 of 7 from the field in overtime.  
• Hargress recorded his seventh 20-point game of the campaign with 24 on Sunday afternoon.  
• UCR improved to 6-0 in games decided by under 10 points.  
• Smith recorded his first double double of the season with 18 points and 10 rebounds.  

UP NEXT 

• UCR resumes Big West play on Thursday, January 2 with a 7:00 p.m. tipoff at Long Beach State on ESPN+. The Highlanders return to the SRC Arena on Thursday, January 9 to host Hawai'i at 7:00 p.m. on ESPN+. Tickets are available now at www.gohighlanders.com/tickets.