Jan. 19, 2008

Final Stats

DAVIS, Calif. - Cal State Fullerton posted an 88-66 victory over UC Davis Saturday night in Big West Conference action at The Pavilion. Vince Oliver led UC Davis with a game-high 29 points, and David Carter added 11. CSF was paced by Josh Akognon, who finished with 22. Frank Robinson added 21 along with a game-high nine rebounds. The loss was just the second at home this season for the Aggies, who dropped to 8-10 overall and 2-3 in the Big West. Cal State Fullerton improved to 11-6 and 4-2 in the conference.

Oliver scored 20 points in the second half and finished 12-for-19 from the field, including 3-for-7 from beyond the arc. He came within one point of tying his career-high while scoring a season-high for an Aggie. Mark Payne chipped in six points to go along with a team-high eight rebounds. It was the fourth straight game the freshman tallied at least seven boards. He also dished out a season-high seven assists.

The Titans did most of their damage in the first half as they opened up a 17-6 lead 10 minutes into the game. CSF increased the lead to 27-13 with 5:22 left before a pair of free throws by Carter and a jumper by Payne pulled the Aggies within 27-17. Less than two minutes later, Oliver connected on consecutive jumpers to make it 30-21 with 3:21 left.

From that point, Cal State Fullerton went on an 11-0 run to end the half with a 41-21 lead. An Oliver layup two minutes into the second half was followed by a 10-0 run by the Titans, who led 51-23 with 16:06 to play.

After falling behind 60-30, the Aggies put together an 8-0 run and would only get as close as 81-64 with 1:48 left on an Oliver three-pointer.

Cal State Fullerton shot 46 percent on the night while the Aggies were 45 percent from the field. UC Davis was an impressive 56 percent in the second half on 18-for-32 shooting. Oliver, alone, went 8-for-11 in the second half.

Jesse Lopez Low and Dominic Calegari each came off the bench for UC Davis with five points.

"(Cal State Fullerton) was much more aggressive at the start of the game, and we got back on our heels," said UC Davis head coach Gary Stewart. "I did like our response in the second half. We competed well, but against a team like Fullerton, you have to put two halves together."

UC Davis is next in action Jan. 24 when it faces Cal Poly on the road. The trip concludes two days later at UC Santa Barbara.