RIVERSIDE — Playing without injured leading scorer Gavin Sykes, the Long Beach State basketball team didn’t have enough to finish off UC Riverside on Thursday night, as the Highlanders pulled away over the final 10 minutes for a 71-61 win.

Long Beach (8-14 overall, 4-6 Big West) responded well to Sykes’ absence in the opening 20 minutes, but the visitors were done in by cold shooting and turnovers in the second half.

Andrew Henderson had 19 points and five rebounds to lead a balanced effort for UCR (8-14, 3-7). Ben Waller had 13 points, seven rebounds and three steals and BJ Kolly added 13 points and five rebounds for the Highlanders, who turned 16 Long Beach turnovers into 23 points. Marqui Worthy chipped in 10 points and five assists, and Osiris Grady contributed eight points, eight rebounds and three blocked shots.

Isaiah Lewis finished with 13 points and Shaquil Bender scored 12 for LBSU, while Petar Majstorovic added nine points, nine rebounds and two blocked shots.

Down by three with nine minutes left in the first half, Long Beach went on a 7-0 run to force a Riverside timeout. With the lead, Long Beach found Shay Johnson Jr. for an alley-oop and a five-point advantage. A Waller basket just before halftime got UCR within 34-31.

Long Beach led by as many as six in the second half, but the shots stopped falling. LBSU shot 9 for 27 from the field after halftime, going 0 for 8 from 3-point range and just 9 for 16 from the free-throw line while being outscored 40-27.

The Highlanders took their first lead of the second half on a Henderson 3-pointer with just under 10 minutes to play and led by eight points after a 3-pointer from Jailen Daniel-Dalton with 4:20 left. Long Beach cut the margin to five in the final minute, but another Henderson 3-pointer with 38 seconds left and a pair of Worthy free throws with 19 seconds remaining secured the win.

UP NEXT

Long Beach State hosts Hawaii on Saturday at 1 p.m.

UC Riverside hosts Cal Poly on Saturday at 5 p.m.

BIG WEST STANDINGS

Through Thursday, Jan. 29

Team – Overall, Big West

UC Irvine – 15-7, 8-2

Hawaii – 15-5, 7-3

UC Santa Barbara – 14-7, 7-3

UC San Diego – 15-7, 5-5

UC Davis – 12-9, 5-5

Cal State Northridge – 12-10, 5-5

Cal State Fullerton – 10-12, 5-5

Cal Poly (SLO) – 8-14, 4-6

Long Beach State – 8-14, 4-6

UC Riverside – 8-14, 3-7

Cal State Bakersfield – 8-14, 2-8