Riverside Fights Past CLU, 84-68

Robert Jimerson scored 30 points, 21 of them in the second half, to lead UC Riverside to an 84-68 win over Cal Lutheran on Saturday night at the CLU gym.

The Kingsmen (4-4) stayed close until late in the game. But in a five-minute stretch that began with seven minutes left, the Highlanders went on a 15-2 spurt, boosting their lead from 63-61 to 78-63. Guard Anthony Holt, who finished with 15 points, warmed up from long range and Jimerson carved through Kingsmen defenders for easy baskets.

CLU had kept the wraps on Jimerson, a 6-7 preseason Division II All-American, until midway through the second half. With slightly more than 12 minutes remaining, Jimerson, who had become frustrated with his poor offensive showing up to that point, and CLU center Michael Demeter began pushing each other in a typical basketball “fight.”

Neither player threw punches, but lots of heated words were exchanged. More than anything, the pushing match shook Jimerson and his teammates out of their uninspired play.

“They made me mad,” Jimerson said. “There was a lot of pushing under the basket and it got me fired up. We relaxed too much, but their pushing lit a fire under me.”

To nobody’s surprise, Demeter had a slightly different version. “I was defending him tough the whole game,” he said. “So he got upset and drilled me with an elbow.”

Demeter agreed, however, that the incident was the game’s turning point.

Until then, the Kingsmen were able to stay close because they played strong man-to-man defense. But their downfall could be traced to basics--poor shooting and, at times, nonexistent rebounding.

Particularly galling to CLU Coach Larry Lopez was his team’s free-throw shooting. Cal Lutheran made just 17 of 29, including key misses on one-and-one opportunities.

“We’d been shooting around 80% from the line,” Lopez said. “I don’t know what happened, but we didn’t take advantage and they caught us. We should have been ahead by seven points by halftime.”

Instead, Riverside (6-2) led 34-32. Early in the game, neither team shot well. But it was Cal Lutheran that was doing the most damage to the backboard--rocketing brick after brick at the basket. The Kingsmen made only 10 of 33 shots in the first half.

The Highlanders shot only slightly better, making 37%.

“We played well defensively,” Lopez said. “On offense, we didn’t get the ball to Steve DeLaveaga enough.”

DeLaveaga, the Kingsmen’s leading scorer, managed 20 points on 6-for-11 shooting.

Despite the loss, Lopez said he was encouraged. “I think we can play with anyone in Division II,” he said. “Riverside probably thought they’d step in here and whip us. But we surprised them.”