RIVERSIDE, Calif. – The Fresno Pacific men's basketball team fell to UC Riverside 96-50 on Saturday at SRC Arena.
 
The game went down as an exhibition for the Sunbirds, while the win counted towards UCR's record (1-2). It was FPU's second exhibition with a Division I opponent this season, as the Sunbirds moved to 2-17 since 2007 in exhibitions against such opponents.
 
T.J. Viney led FPU with 11 points and two assists, while Adriel McGee added eight points and four rebounds off the bench. Jeff Bartley chipped in with six points and Rafail Eleftheriou and Jordan Belasco added five apiece.
 
The Sunbirds hung tough in the opening seven minutes and trailed 15-9 with 12:33 to play before the intermission. UCR went on to lead 39-26 at the half. The Highlanders then put away the game with a 15-0 run to open the second half and would lead by as many as 47 en route to the 96-50 victory.
 
FPU was held to 29 percent shooting on the day, including a 26 percent clip in the second half. The Sunbirds only connected on 7-of-33 shots from deep. UCR countered at 54 percent and 58 percent in the second frame. The Highlanders out-rebounded the Sunbirds 49-29.
 
Dikymbe Martin led UCR with 26 points on 11-of-13 shooting, while Gentrey Thomas added 14 points and 10 rebounds.
 
The Sunbirds are back in action on Saturday, Nov. 26 at Western Washington with a tip-off time of 3:15 p.m.