Feb. 14, 2006

Final Stats

DAVIS, Calif. - UC Davis cut a 16-point deficit with less than six minutes to go down to five points, but it wasn't enough as the Aggies were defeated by Cal State Northridge, 75-69, Tuesday night at The Pavilion. Rommel Marentez scored a season-high 26 points, and Thomas Juillerat added a career-high 24 for UC Davis. Mike Efevberha led Cal State Northridge with 19 points.

In the first half, Cal State Northridge (10-12) put together the first burst of the game less than three-minutes in. After UC Davis (8-16)jumped out to 7-4 lead, the Matadors went on a 9-2 run over the next four minutes and led 13-9 at the 13:55 mark.

UC Davis responded with a 7-0 run, helped by a Marentez three-pointer and capped off by a Phil Rasmussen bucket, which gave the the Aggies a 16-13 lead with 12:41 left in the half. With UC Davis up 16-15, Marentez scored the next seven Aggie points, making it 23-17 at the 7:18 mark.

Both teams traded points over the next three minutes as UC Davis led 30-24 with 4:31 left in the half. CSUN then ran off 11 straight points to claim a 35-30 lead with just under a minute to play in the half. The Matadors went to the locker room with a 37-32 lead.

UC Davis started off the second half with a 5-0 run, all courtesy of Juillerat, and tied the game at 37 after a Juillerat fast-break layup at the 18:09 mark. CSUN came back with a 15-3 run to reclaim the lead for good.

The Matadors led by as many as 16 points when Thomas Shewmake scored on a layup with 6:06 remaining to make it 64-48.

The Aggies then went on an 11-0 run in less than three minutes to pull within 64-59 at the 3:27 mark. Juillerat scored the first nine points of the run, which was capped off by a David Carter layup off a turnover.

The Aggies would get as close as four points down the stretch as the Matadors scored all but three of their final 11 points from the line. The only field goal was a Calvin Chitwood three-pointer with 51 seconds remaining that gave CSUN a 72-65 lead.

"I don't think there's any question we didn't play well," said UC Davis head coach Gary Stewart. "You have to attribute some of that to Northridge."

"We did not take care of the basketball, and we did not defend as well as we needed to," added Stewart.

For the game, UC Davis shot 53 percent from the field, the third straight game the Aggies have converted at least 53 percent of their shots. Cal State Northridge shot 59 percent.

The Aggies forced the Matadors into 25 turnovers while committing 18. CSUN dominated the boards, outrebounding UC Davis 36-14.

Juillerat went 9-11 from the field while Marentez was 10-for-13, including 5-for-7 from beyond the arc.

UC Davis is next in action Feb. 23 when it hosts UC Irvine. The game can be heard on KSAC 1240-AM with audio and video coverage available at www.ucdavisaggies.com. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:00 p.m.