Riverside—Jaylen Bland and Taylor Johns each scored 23 points Saturday afternoon as the UC Riverside Men's Basketball Team sent a near-capacity Homecoming crowd home happy with a 100-68 victory over visiting William Jessup.

The Highlanders opened the game scoring 17 of the first 21 points, and looked like they might put an end to the game early, but the Warriors countered with a 15-1 run of their own to go up 19-18 with 10:25 remaining in the first.

William Jessup led 26-23 with 6:59 to go, but UCR scored 17 of the next 20 points to extend their lead back out to 11, 40-29.

It was a nine-point UC Riverside (1-0) advantage at intermission as Bland led all scorers with 12 points, and Johns nearly recorded a double-double with seven points and seven boards. The Warriors remained in the game thanks to a seven for 15 shooting performance by the Highlanders from the charity stripe.

William Jessup (3-2) made its last run of the game early in the second, cutting the lead to four at 44-40 with 16:50 on the clock. It was still just a six-point Highlanders' lead two minutes later, and that's when UC Riverside took the Warriors out of the game. A 22-4 run capped by a Secean Johnson three pointer over a five minute stretch, effectively ended the game as the Highlanders led by 18 or more the rest of the way.

That enabled Head Coach Dennis Cutts to play his bench quite a bit as 11 different players dented the scoring column. Newcomers Johnson (11) and Gentrey Thomas (12) each scored in double figures in their UCR debuts, and Thomas added four rebounds, three assists and three steals on the night.

Johns scored 16 after the break in just 12 minutes of action making seven of his eight field goal attempts including one from long distance. Bland added 11 in the final 20 minutes making four of six shots including three of four from three-point range. Thomas chipped in with 11 of his points in the second, going five for seven from the floor.

Corey Clement paced the William Jessup offense with 22 points, wearing out a path to the free throw line making 10 of 12. Andre Smith added a 12-point, 10-rebound double-double, but the bench accounted for just seven of the team's 68 points.

The Highlanders remain at home this week as they host Santa Clara on Thursday, November 19 beginning at 7 pm PT. They then head to San Francisco Saturday, November 21 for a 7 pm tip against the Dons.