UC Riverside fends off late Abilene Christian rally 60-56

Dec 18, 2015, 10:51 pm

ABILENE, Texas -- Jaylen Bland scored 14 points to help UC Riverside hold off Abilene Christian 60-56 on Friday night.

Secean Johnson added 10 points for UC Riverside (6-5).

Menno Dijkstra's jumper made the score 51-38 for the Highlanders with 8:39 to play, the largest lead of the second half.

With 2:13 to play, however, Jaylen Franklin's jumper brought Abilene Christian to within 59-53. A Duran Porter free throw and Jovan Crnic's layup with 33 seconds left cut UC Riverside's lead to 59-56.

But Parker Wentz missed a 3 to with 10 seconds left and Taylor Johns made one of two free throws to seal the game.

The Highlanders raced to a 21-7 lead in the game's first 10 minutes and went to the break with a 31-20 lead.

Crnic finished with 18 points and Austin Cooke had nine rebounds for Abilene Christian (4-6).