Jan. 12, 2008

Box Score

LONG BEACH, Calif - UC Davis was defeated by Long Beach State, 71-53, Saturday afternoon in Big West Conference action at the Walter Pyramid. David Carter led the Aggies with 15 points, and Vince Oliver added 13. Shane Hanson finished with 10. Long Beach State's Donovan Morris scored a game-high 20 points, and Greg Plater added 18. The loss drops the Aggies to 7-9 overall and 1-2 in the Big West. The 49ers snapped a five-game losing streak and improved to 4-11 and 1-3 in the conference.

The 49ers started the game with plenty of success from the field as they made six of their first seven attempts. Plater, who scored 13 points in the first eight minutes, made a trio of three-pointers during the stretch which resulted in a 16-8 lead with 14:45 left in the half. LBSU built as much as a 14-point lead in the half and led 30-16 at the 6:18 mark.

UC Davis cut the deficit with a 6-0 run. It started with a pair of free throws by Carter and ended with two more free throws by Oliver as the Aggies closed within 30-22 with 3:37 left in the half. LBSU went to the break leading 34-24.

The Aggies cut the lead down to as few as six points early in the second half before Morris scored six straight points to get the lead back into double-figures. Morris scored 16 of his 20 points in the second half.

A Carter three-pointer at the 15:06 mark made it 44-33 before the 49ers went on a 15-2 run and held the Aggies without a field goal for almost eight minutes. At that point, the 49ers led 59-37 with 7:27 remaining in the game. LBSU led by as many as 26 points.

Long Beach State shot 54 percent and held UC Davis to 36 percent. The Aggies shot 3-for-19 from beyond the arc but converted 20 of 23 free throw attempts. Oliver went 7-for-7 from the line while Carter was a perfect 6-for-6. Mark Payne led UC Davis with seven rebounds.

UC Davis returns home to host a two-game homestand. It starts Thursday against UC Irvine and concludes next Saturday against Cal State Fullerton.