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(March 1, 2008) –
UC Riverside battled hard but fell 73-55 to UC Santa Barbara
in a Big West conference match-up in Santa Barbara, CA Saturday
night. Senior Larry Cunningham finished with a team-high 19
points and freshman Jalonni Diggs chipped in with 10 points
for the Highlanders (7-19, 3-11 Big West).
The Gauchos (21-7, 10-4
Big West) used the three-ball to pick up the victory, knocking
down 11-of-19 attempts and limiting the Highlanders to 3-of-9
from long distance. UCR was unable to contain UCSB's James
Powell who finished with a game-high 24 points hitting 7-of-8
from beyond the arc.
Powell got three of his
3-pointers, plus a three-point play, in the first eight minutes
to put UCSB ahead 21-8. UCR later answered with a 14-3 run,
capped by a Cunningham layup, to pull within two, 28-26 with
just over one minute to go in the half. With just seconds
remaining until the break, sophomore Sean Cunningham was fouled
and he knocked down one of two from line. The rebound off
the missed free-throw was grabbed by UCSB's Justin Joyner
who then raced up court and banked in a three-pointer as time
expired to give Santa Barbara a 33-27 halftime advantage.
The Highlanders faced a
tough Gaucho defense to the start the second half, as Larry
Cunningham ended a UCR scoring drought with a layup at the
15:51 mark to make it 42-29 UCSB. The outside shooting by
the Gauchos was just too much for the young Riverside squad
to overcome as they finished the second half shooting 35.0%
from the floor.
Larry Cunningham hit on
all six of his free-throw attempts and junior Aaron Scott
finished with eight points and brought down a game-high eight
rebounds for the Highlanders.
UCR returns home to close
out the season against Pacific on Wednesday and UC Davis on
Saturday..
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