Nov. 25, 2005

Final Stats

HANOVER, N.H.. - Freshman Vince Oliver scored a career-high 27 points, but it wasn't enough as UC Davis (0-2) fell to Dartmouth, 66-61, Friday night in Hanover, N.H. It was an evening in which the Aggies had an answer for almost every Big Green run before allowing one final burst in the final two minutes. Along with Oliver's effort, Rommel Marentez helped spark the UC Davis attack with 15 points off the bench. UC Davis, which at one point erased a 14-point deficit, trailed most of the night. Mike Lang led Dartmouth (1-1) with 16 points.

The Aggies opened a quick 4-3 lead as Vince Oliver scored the first six points for UC Davis. The Big Green, though, regained the lead and began to add to it. After a Thomas Juilerrat bucket with 13:23 left in the half that put the Aggies down by six, Dartmouth held UC Davis without a field goal for more than six minutes and led by as much as 22-8 at the 7:37 mark.

Trailing 27-16 with 4:14 left in the half, UC Davis went on a 6-0 run. Lay-ups by Phil Rasmussen and Marentez as well as a pair of free throws by Ari Warmerdam cut the deficit to 27-20 with 2:19 to play. Oliver's jumper with five seconds left in the half led to the eventual 31-24 halftime score. Oliver scored 12 points in the first half.

At the start of the second half, Oliver picked up where he left off, making a three-pointer to cut the lead to 31-27. After Michael Giovacchini's lay-up at the 17:02 mark made it 35-29, the Aggies went on another mini-run. It was started by a Marentez trey and ended with a Marentez lay-up, completing a 7-1 run and tying the game at 36 with 15:26 to play.

Dartmouth responded with a 13-4 run and led 49-40 with 10:46 left. The Aggies, though, fought back once again. This time, it was a lay-up by Warmerdam and a three-pointer by Oliver that made it 49-45.

Dartmouth maintained its lead, taking a 60-54 cushion with 3:23 to play on a four-point play by Mike Lang. A pair of Oliver free throws at the 2:53 mark and an Oliver trey with 2:02 to play pulled the Aggies within 60-59.

That was as close as UC Davis would get as the Big Green outscored the Aggies 6-2 the rest of the way. Oliver's lay-up with 21 seconds left made it 63-61, but the Big Green went 3-for-4 from the line in the final 17 seconds and did not allow another Aggie field goal.

"I thought we made some significant strides from a week ago," said UC Davis head coach Gary Stewart. "We dug a hole at the beginning, and it's really tough to do that and win a game on the road. We've improved from one week to another, and we'll continue to improve."

UC Davis outshot Dartmouth 50 percent to 42 percent. The Aggies made six of their 12 three-pointers. Oliver, who went 10-for-16 from the field, connected four of six times from beyond the arc. The Aggies also made 11 of their 12 free throw attempts.

Juillerat scored eight points and hauled in a game-high eight rebounds. Oliver finished with six boards.

With his 15 points, Marentez surpassed the 500-point mark for his career. He entered the game with 487 and now has 502.

UC Davis concludes its road trip Sunday when it takes on Harvard. Gametime is scheduled for 11:00 a.m. PST with the contest airing on KSAC 1240-AM and www.ucdavisaggies.com.