Nov. 25, 2013
Redhawks 69 – Highlanders 68
Monday night was intense for the men’s basketball team as they faced Seattle University. Down by one point and with one last opportunity to secure another road victory, Chris Patton’s jumper fell short as the shot clock expired, allowing Seattle to take the win, 69-68.
The Highlanders were unable to put up any points during the first three minutes. With a pair of three-pointers and free throws, the Seattle Redhawks led by 10 points. Although Riverside was able to pick up their game by scoring the next 15 points at the 9:41 mark, they couldn’t obtain a lead higher than seven. With four minutes left to go, the Highlanders missed an array of jumpers and free throws which allowed Seattle to take the lead once again. UCR simply wasn’t able to connect at the free-throw line as they only converted on 50 percent of their attempts compared to 88.9 percent from the Redhawks. There was an even larger disparity in attempts as Seattle went to the line 18 times compared to UC Riverside’s 12. As the shot clock ticked down, the half came to a close with Seattle on top, 40-36.
The second half began as an all-out battle between both teams. Seattle led throughout the first nine minutes with Riverside short behind. At the 11:24 mark, Steven Thornton scored a layup, which gave the Highlanders the lead, 54-53. This didn’t last long as Seattle quickly responded. Trading baskets, both teams struggled to maintain the edge on their side as the game was tied up three times throughout the half. With 4:50 remaining, Redhawk Clarence Trent shot a jumper which would put an end to the last tie of the game, 63-61. The final minutes were definitely nail-biters as Riverside was tailing short behind Seattle. In the end, missing jumpers and turning the ball over three times cost them the victory although they had a final attempt to redeem themselves with Patton’s last-second attempt.
Seattle had the advantage when it came to free throws as they converted on 17-20, while Riverside only chipped in 9-16. Easy points that could’ve helped the Highlanders fell out of reach.
Riverside had three players score in double digits. Thornton tallied 18 points as he led Riverside. Patton was right behind with 15 points and eight rebounds. Sam Finley added a career-high of 14 points. Redhawk Trent led all scorers with 19 points and four rebounds.
The Highlanders (2-3) now prepare to face Loyola Marymount on Monday, Dec. 2.
