BAKERSFIELD, Calif. – Taylor Johns scored 15 of his 21 points in the second half, including the winning basket with 12 seconds left, as UC Riverside rallied to edge CS Bakersfield 59-58 on Tuesday night.
The only other lead for the Highlanders (4-3) was 5-4 in the opening minutes. The Roadrunners (1-6) led 29-23 at the half.
Riverside caught the Roadrunners at 51 on two Jaylen Bland free throws with 2:41 remaining.
Aly Ahmed scored for Bakersfield at 32 seconds for a 58-55 lead but Nick Gruninger quickly countered that and after the Roadrunners missed a free throw at 18 seconds, Gruninger found Johns for the winner. Bakersfield had two contested misses in the final seconds.
Bland finished with 15 points, Gruninger had 13 and Riverside hit 13 of 17 free throws to 5 of 8 for Bakersfield, which got 12 points from Dashawn Richmond and 11 points and 11 boards from Kevin Mays.
Receive your weekly recap of all the happenings around the world of sports.