Jan. 19, 2006
Final Stats
NORTHRIDGE, Calif. - UC Davis was outlasted by Cal State Northridge, 70-60, Thursday night at the Matadome in Northridge, Calif. The ragged affair featured a combined 52 fouls, 40 turnovers, 66 free throw attempts and four technical fouls. Four of an available nine Aggies fouled out of the game. Rommel Marentez and Thomas Juillerat each led UC Davis with 14 points. Phil Rasmussen and Vince Oliver tossed in eight apiece. CSUN's Mike Efevberha led all scorers with 22 points. The difference in the game was a 25-6 run by the Matadors that spanned the end of the first half and beginning of the second half.
In the first half, Cal State Northridge (7-8) outscored UC Davis 35-26. There were nine lead changes, all in the first 12 minutes, with the Aggies leading by as many as two points. With 8:28 left in the half, a Rasmussen tip-in gave UC Davis (5-12) a 20-19 lead. The bucket, however, would be the last of the half for the Aggies as CSUN went on an 8-0 run. The last six points of the run were all from the charity stripe.
The Aggies shot 6-for-23 from the field in the first half while committing 13 fouls and 12 turnovers. They were helped by 80-percent free throw shooting, making 12 of their 15 attempts. The Matadors were also fruitful from the line, connecting 14 out of 17 times.
Cal State Northridge came out strong to start the second half, scoring nine straight points in the opening 1:37. A pair of free throws by Efevberha made it 44-26. Rasmussen ended the run 14 seconds later with a pair of free throws while Brucculeri ended the field goal drought of nearly 11 minutes with a three-pointer at the 17:39 mark to pull the Aggies within 44-31.
A Juillerat three-point play less than a minute later capped off an 8-0 Aggie run, drawing UC Davis within 44-34. That play started a stretch where Juillerat scored nine straight points. During that time span, the Aggies pulled to as close as 46-38 with 14:47 to play.
The Aggies still trailed by nine after a Michael Boone jumper in the lane with 6:18 left that made it 62-53. That's when both teams went cold. The score remained the same for nearly four minutes before Marentez made a pair of free throws after a 1-of-2 effort on technical free throws to draw the Aggies within 62-56. That was as close as UC Davis would get as the Matadors led by as many as 12 points in the closing seconds.
"We had a bad stretch to close out the first half. We just lost some intensity defensively," said UC Davis head coach Gary Stewart. "We didn't start the second half very well. So those two time periods were really monumental."
For the game, UC Davis shot 32 percent compared to CSUN's 45 percent. Each team made 25 free throws. The Aggies finished 25-of-34 from the line while the Matadors shot 25-of-32. The Aggies committed 22 turnovers and forced the Matadors into 18 miscues.
All but three of Marentez's points came from the line as the junior made a career-high 11 free throws in 12 attempts.
UC Davis returns to action Saturday afternoon when it faces Pacific in Stockton. Tip-off is scheduled for 3 p.m., and the game can be heard live on KSAC 1240-AM and www.ucdavisaggies.com.
