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(February 23, 2008) –
Senior Larry Cunningham became the UCR all-time scoring leader
after he put up a season-high 31 points and led the Highlanders
(7-17, 3-9 Big West) to a 79-62 victory over the visiting
Hawaii Rainbow Warriors (11-14) in front of a season-high
1,214 fans at the Student Rec Center Saturday night.
Cunningham knocked down
a free-throw with 1:10 remaining in the game to surpass Howard
Lee (1969-72) who had held the record for nearly 36 years
after finishing with 1,386 in his career. The Highlanders
knocked down 57.4% of their shots as Cunningham finished 10-for-15
from the floor including three from beyond the arc and all
eight of his free-throw attempts.
UCR used 16 first-half
points by Cunningham and a 13-4 run half through the half
to take a 34-20 lead after the first 20 minutes. The Highlanders
had all players hitting their shots as they made 14-of-26
(53.8%) from the floor as a team with seven players recording
baskets in the half.
Both teams would trade
baskets for nearly all of the second half before the Highlander
defense forced some stops down the stretch and then capitalized
on the other end, eventually building double digit leads in
the final minutes. The Rainbow Warriors were forced to foul
in those final minutes but UCR knocked down 11 of their final
12 attempts from the foul line to pick up their third consecutive
ESPNU BracketBuster win. They beat Idaho last season and Southeast
Missouri in 2005-06.
The first-half run and
the second-highest points scored in a half by the Highlanders
on the season, proved to be too much for Hawaii. UCR shot
13-of-21 (61.9%) in the second-half and also won the battle
on the boards, 30-23 to pick up their second straight victory.
Four Highlanders finished
in double-figures with junior Severing Gates putting up 11
points and juniors Cleavon Barlow and Christian Soto each
finishing with 10 points. Junior Aaron Scott brought down
a game-high eight rebounds and finished with nine points.
Hawaii had all five of
their starters finish in double figures led by Kareem Nitoto
and Riley Luettegerodt who each put up 13 points.
The 31-point effort was
Cunningham's first 30-point effort of the season and seventh
20-plus game for him this season.
UCR returns to Big West
action with a trip up north to face Cal Poly on Thursday and
UC Santa Barbara on Saturday.
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