UC Riverside falls short against Northridge

Junior guard Deon Tresvant scored 20 points and made six three-point baskets Wednesday night as Cal State Northridge rallied to defeat UC Riverside, 66-62, in a Big West Conference game at Riverside.

The last-place Highlanders (3-12, 0-4 Big West) stayed with the first-place Matadors (13-3, 5-0) and even led before Northridge scored nine consecutive points in the final three minutes to break a 57-57 tie.

Tresvant made a fall-away 22-foot shot with 2:29 remaining that put the Matadors ahead, 62-57. Tresvant made six of 11 shots from behind the arc as Northridge shot 48% (12 of 25) from three-point range.

Josh Jenkins added 14 points and Jonathan Heard had 12 rebounds for the Matadors.

Sophomore guard Cleavon Barlow paced Riverside, which lost its sixth in a row, with 20 points and 10 rebounds.

Barlow exited briefly after being fouled hard and falling to the court with 14:21 remaining.

Aaron Scott added 11 points for the Highlanders.

Pepperdine has imposed unspecified sanctions in its men’s basketball program after reporting two so-called secondary rules violations to the NCAA, Athletic Director John Watson said through a spokesman.

The NCAA defines secondary violations as isolated or inadvertent violations that “provide only a minimal recruiting, competitive or other advantage.”

Watson said the NCAA had accepted Pepperdine’s self-imposed sanctions but neither he nor Coach Vance Walberg returned messages seeking information about the specific violations and penalties.

-- Robyn Norwood