UC Riverside hangs on for 64-62 win over UC Santa Barbara

RIVERSIDE, Calif. (AP) Jaylen Bland and Taylor Johns scored 21 points apiece and UC Riverside hung on Thursday night for 64-62 win over UC Santa Barbara.

Riverside (13-13, 6-6 Big West) broke away early in the second half with a 19-2 run that included two of Bland's four 3-pointers in the game and another trey from Austin Quick to take a 52-37 lead with 8:40 left.

Santa Barbara (13-12, 6-5) battled back, getting a 3-pointer from Michael Bryson to spark an 11-1 run that cut the gap to 63-62 with John Green's bucket with 6 seconds left.

Bland stretched Riverside's lead back to two with a free throw and Santa Barbara's Eric Childress missed a 3-pointer at the buzzer. The win avenged a Jan. 22 loss to Santa Barbara.

Green led Santa Barbara with 17 points. Michael Bryson added 13, Alan Williams had 12 and 11 rebounds and DaJuan Smith had 10 points.