SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- Trenell Eddings scored with two second left in overtime to lift UC Riverside to a 90-88 men's basketball victory Friday night at Hornet Gym.
The win improved the Highlanders to 7-11. Sacramento State dropped to 3-12.
With the score tied, 88-88, Eddings drove to the free throw line, pumped once, and buried a 15-foot floater. The Hornets attempted to answer but a baseball pass was deflected out of bounds as time expired.
Sacramento State was led by a career-high 27 points from Pablo Gonzales. The senior was 5-of-10 from the floor including 4-of-5 from three-point range. Senior Rickie Glenn also crossed the 20-point plateau with 23 and juniors Arinze Anoruo and Rene Jacques each added 11. Anoruo also recorded his third double-double of the season with 11 rebounds.
Three of Jacques' 11 points came at the end of regulation when he hit a 22-foot fade-away from the left elbow to send the game into overtime. The basket gave the Hornets their first tie since relinquishing the lead with 13:03 left in the game.
Sacramento State opened the game with a 12-5 lead only to see UCR tie the contest, 14-14. From that point the Highlanders took a five-point advantage before the Hornets answered to tie the game, 21-21. Sacramento State sparked a late first-half surge with a 6-0 run to lead 37-28 with 3:25 left and entered halftime with a 42-35 advantage.
UCR opened the second half on a 30-16 run and led by seven midway through the period. The Hornets were able to pull as close as one point on four occasions before Jacques tied the game.
Once in overtime, Sacramento State made 1-of-2 free throws on its first two trips to the line and led 83-81. The Highlanders sliced their deficit in half after a Steve Clayton free throw and took their first lead of the extra period when Ted Bell made a layup with 3:23 on the clock. Gonzales returned the lead to the Hornets with a pair of free throws before Viliamu Morton scored on a dunk. Eddings extended the lead to 88-85 with a jumper but Gonzales answered with a three with 17 seconds left. Eddings then ended all thoughts of double-overtime with his jumper to end all scoring.
Morton paced UC Riverside with a career-high 21 points. The freshman was 10-of-10 from the floor including a handful of dunks. Mark Miller added 18, Eddings chipped in 17 and Ted Bell tallied 13. Morton and Eddings also shared the team lead with six rebounds each.
Sacramento State returns to Big Sky action on Wednesday when they travel to Eastern Washington. The game will be aired on KTKZ 1380 AM with Steve McElroy calling the action.
