Feb. 5, 2011
Fullerton, Calif. -
Phil Martin had 26 points and Kevin Bradshaw made a slam dunk with 3.8 seconds left Saturday to lead UC Riverside to a 70-69 Big West Conference victory over Cal State Fullerton.
Bradshaw finished with 13 points after taking a baseline pass from a penetrating Javon Borum. Perry Webster, who led the Titans (9-15, 5-6) with 15 points, slipped bringing the ball up court and never crossed the time line before time expired. Devon Peltier added 14 points for the Titans including two free throws at 1:19 for a 69-68 lead. Borum had 10 points to go with 5 assists.
A Homecoming crowd of 2,391 saw Fullerton's 4-game home-court winning streak snapped.
Martin scored 20 of UCR's (8-12, 3-5) 37 first-half points including 11 unanswered during a 16-0 run that erased a 22-13 Fullerton lead. He was shaken up in the second half and his playing time was limited in the final 10 minutes. Fullerton played the final 7:20 without leading scorer and No. 2 rebounder Jer'Vaughn Johnson, who fouled out.
Webster scored 6 unanswered points on back-to-back 3-pointers for a 52-44 CSF lead with 13:17 left to play, but UCR went on another run, scoring 10 consecutive points to lead, 54-52. From there it was a see-saw finish with 11 lead changes and two ties.
The teams had similar shooting percentages and rebounding was a draw at 29 each. But Fullerton committed more turnovers (19 to 14) and more fouls (22 to 17).
"The turnovers and the fouls were the story," said Fullerton Coach Bob Burton. "Jer'Vaughn played only 23 minutes and Andre (Hardy) only 29, a lot of that with four fouls, and we don't have the depth to get around that. They have to play and play better than they did tonight.
"Martin has been playing well for them. Two things happened to him in the second half. We did a better job on him and he got hurt and didn't play as much.
"Orlando Brown is our best on-ball defender and he did a good job. Orlando had a great game, I'm really excited for him. He had 11 points (equalling his season's high) and some big shots in 26 minutes."
The Titans return home to take on Cal State Northridge on Feb. 10 at 7:05 p.m. UCR's next game is UC Santa Barbara at home on the same date.