Riverside—A thrilling last-minute rally came up short as the UC Riverside Highlanders fell to the Long Beach State 49ers 69-66 in front of a crowd of 2,097 at the Student Recreation Center in Riverside.

UCR trailed 64-57 with 55 seconds remaining, but junior forward John Galbreath hit four straight free throws on consecutive possessions to cut the lead to 64-60 with 43 seconds left. Michael Darrret hit one-of-two free throws following a foul by Kevin Butler to give LBSU a 65-60 lead, but UCR sophomore guard Ted Bell hit a trey to cut the margin to 65-63 with 17 seconds left.

The Highlanders (6-13, 3-8) fouled Ron Johnson to send him to the line with 16 seconds left, and Johnson nailed both shots to enhance LBSU's lead to 67-63. Butler nailed a three with four seconds left to make it 67-66, and followed with a foul of Darrett. But Darrett put the game away with a pair of free throws with two seconds left. UCR had a final chance to tie, but Galbreath's inbound pass was wild, sending the Highlander faithful home disappointed.

LBSU senior forward Travis Reed's career high 31 points on 12-of-18 shooting was the main force behind the 49ers victory. His 11 rebounds gave him his seventh double-double of the season. Reed's performance makes him a strong candidate for Big West Player of the Week honors coming off of a 30-point performance at Fullerton on Thursday.

Forward James Williams added 12 points for the 49ers and was the only other Long Beach (8-14, 4-7) player to finish in double digits.

For the Highlanders, Bell had a season-high and career-high tying 18 points, coming on a career-high six treys. Sophomore center Vili Morton had his eighth double-double of the season with 11 points and a career-high 20 rebounds, but was just 1-of-8 from the free throw line. Overall, the Highlanders shot just 10-of-23 from the charity stripe.

The Highlanders trailed the 49ers 33-29 at the intermission, largely on the strength of a 17-point first half effort by Reed. In fact, taking away Reed's 8-of-10 effort, the rest of the 49ers shot just 5-of-22 (22.7%). LBSU used a 7-2 run over a three-minute span to open up a two-point lead into a 33-26 advantage with 1:13 remaining, but freshman guard Rickey Porter nailed a baseline trey with 19 seconds left to cut the lead to 33-29.

The Highlanders had shooting problems of their own in the first half, hitting just 4-of-19 (21.1%) from the three point line and 10-of-31 (32.3%) overall.