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(Nov. 28, 2007) –
UC Riverside beat Hope International 85-49 at the UCR Recreation
Center Wednesday night. Senior Larry Cunningham led all scorers
with 21 points as three Highlanders finished in double figures
to improve to 2-4 on the season.
UCR shot 15-29 (51.7%)
in the second half and 29-58 (50%) in the game while holding
Hope to 17-49 (34.7%) from the floor on the night. Sophomore
Sean Cunningham finished with 13 points and junior Severin
Gates added 12 points and five rebounds.
The Highlanders used nine
first half points from Cunningham to take a 35-29 lead at
the break. UCR traded baskets with the Royals (1-4) in the
final minutes after opening up a 26-14 lead at the eight minute
mark. The Highlanders shot 14-of-29 (48.3%) in the first half
but Hope showed they could play with young and improving UCR
squad, shooting 11-of-25 (44.0%) in their first 20 minutes.
The athleticism of Riverside
evetually took over in the second half, coming out with a
26-9 run capped by a Larry Cunningham layup at the 9:25 mark
to put the game out of reach, 61-37 UCR. The Highlanders outscored
the Royals 50 to 20 in the final 20 minutes using solid defense
to open things up on the offensive end.
UCR turned up the dial
on defense to hold the Royals to 6-of-24 (25%) shooting in
the second half and turned 16 Royal turnovers in to 19 points
on the other end.
Every single member of
the Highlanders played some minutes including junior Benoit
Bekono who missed nearly all of last season after inuring
his knee early in the year, he finished with two points and
five boards. UCR freshman Ndubuisi Anyanwu took the floor
to a standing ovation from the Highlander student body with
two minutes left. Anyanwu was the last player to make 2007-08
UCR squad after making it through the walk-on tryouts prior
to the season; he finished with one point and one rebound.
Michael Johnson led the
Royals with 11 points.
The Highlanders hit the
road for tough non-conference matchup with Big Ten Conference
member Minnesota in Minneapolis, MN on Saturday at 10 am (PST).
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