Jan. 14, 2004

DAVIS, Calif. - UC Davis guard Rommel Marentez, who led the Aggies to two victories last weekend, has been named the Wilson California Collegiate Athletic Association Men's Basketball Player of the Week for the week of January 5-11.

Marentez, a freshman from Chula Vista, took control to lead the Aggies to wins over Cal State Stanislaus and Cal State Bakersfield, giving UC Davis back-to-back conference wins for the first time this season.

He scored a career-high 29 points, hitting seven of nine three-pointers, to lead the Aggies to a 95-73 victory over Stanislaus. The seven three-pointers were one shy of the school record and the most by an Aggie players since J.P. Bergez connected for eight at Humboldt State on January 4, 1997. Marentez then scored a team-high 13 points, hitting three of five from long range, and added a team-high four assists and a steal as UC Davis upset Bakersfield, 59-50, handing the Roadrunners their first conference loss of the season.

For the week, Marentez averaged 21.0 points on 65.2 percent shooting (15 for 23) overall, including 71.4 percent from three-point land (10 for 14). He also averaged 4.5 assists, 2.0 steals and 1.0 rebounds per contest as UC Davis improved to 6-5 overall and 3-3 in the CCAA.

Marentez becomes the first Aggie to win the CCAA Player of the Week award since Fowzi Abdelsamad earned the honor during the week of January 26-February 1, 2003.

UC Davis takes a 6-5 overall record, 3-3 in CCAA play, into Friday's contest at UC San Diego. Gametime is set for 7:30 p.m.