Nov. 28, 2008

Final Stats

MOBILE, Ala. - Joe Harden scored a season-high 20 points and Dominic Calegari added 18 to help lead UC Davis to a 76-62 victory over Tulane Friday in Mobile, Ala. The game was part of the first round of the USA Basketball Classic being hosted by South Alabama. The Aggies outscored the Green Wave, 50-33, in the second half.

UC Davis (2-4) seized early control of the game after Tulane opened with a 2-0 lead. The Aggies countered with a 12-0 run over the next three minutes and led 12-2 at the 14:18 mark of the first half. Calegari started the run with a three-pointer before Harden scored seven of the team's next nine points. A Vince Oliver trey with 7:57 left in the half gave the Aggies a 20-9 advantage. At that point, Tulane (3-2) put together its strongest stretch of the game with a 20-6 run and led 29-26 at the break.

The Aggies opened the second half with a 17-8 run and led 43-37 with 15:29 left in the game. Todd Lowenthal, who started for the injured Mark Payne, had four of his eight points during that span. Calegari and Kyle Brucculeri were also key during the run. Calegari scored seven points, and Brucculeri added a pair of three-pointers.

The Green Wave countered with a 6-0 run to tie the game at 43-43 at the 13:19 mark. The lead remained within two points either way, and a David Booker jumper with 9:17 to play pulled Tulane within 52-50.

From that point, it was all UC Davis. The Aggies ran off nine straight points. The last five came via a three-pointer by Calegari followed by a Lowenthal layup, giving UC Davis a 61-50 lead with 7:10 remaining.

Asim McQueen, who led Tulane with 20 points and eight rebounds, converted a tip-in with 3:29 left to pull the Green Wave within 64-55. That's as close as they would get as the Aggies went on a 7-2 run to extend the margin to 14. In fact, UC Davis would score its last nine points from the free throw line and finished 15-for-17 as a team from the stripe.

"I couldn't be prouder of the guys. I think we had a great, great response," said UC Davis head coach Gary Stewart. "We had a good start, Tulane made an excellent run and we were able to have a good second half. That bodes well for our future. When we start to put together a full 40 minutes of quality basketball, we're going to be a factor."

For the game, the Aggies shot 49 percent while holding the Green Wave to 38 percent. That number is a season-low for an Aggie opponent. UC Davis shot 62 percent in the second half. Tulane held a 35-34 edge on the boards, but the Aggies outrebounded the Green Wave, 19-13, in the decisive second half.

Oliver finished with nine points, and Ryan Silva scored eight. Calegari finished 4-for-6 from beyond the arc, and Harden hauled in a game-high nine rebounds.

In addition, a total of 11 Aggies saw action in the game.

"I think that's the most significant part of the night," said Stewart. "You go back the last few years, and the lack of depth has really hurt us. An injury to Mark would have dissipated our team. Now we're able to put in 11, 12 or 13 players, and tonight we needed to."

UC Davis will next face the winner of Friday night's South Alabama-Maine game in Saturday's championship. Tip-off is set for 5 p.m. PST, and the game can be heard live at www.ucdavisaggies.com.