Nov. 3, 2008

DAVIS, Calif - Three Aggies finished with at least 20 points in the squad's Blue-Gold Scrimmage over the weekend. The Blue team defeated the Gold team, 90-78, behind a team-high 21 points by freshman Julian Welch. Sophomore Joe Harden poured in 20 points and grabbed six rebounds in the victory. Senior Kyle Brucculeri led the Gold team with 28 points.

Welch and Harden were two of five Aggie newcomers who helped anchor a seven-player Blue squad. Freshman Adam Malik finished with 15 points, and sophomore Derek Oestreicher scored 10 to go along with four rebounds. Mark Payne added 11 points, and Ryan Silva scored 10.

On the Gold side, Brucculeri was one of four seniors in the veteran lineup. Another senior, David Carter, finished with 19 points. Michael Boone and Nathan Clark each scored eight. Brucculeri and Boone hauled in six rebounds, and Carter dished out a game-high six assists. Freshman Ryan Howley finished with a game-high seven rebounds.

The scrimmage used the format of an actual game with two 20-minute halves. The Blue team led 49-33 at the break and by as much as 19 with 13:40 remaining in the second half. After a delay, the Gold squad went on a 19-5 run and pulled within 73-68 with under seven minutes to play. It was a six-point game with 3:35 left before Payne extended it to 82-74 with a reverse dunk.

All of the Blue team's points were scored by freshmen and sophomores, and a total of 105 of the 168 points scored were from those two classes. Entering the 2008-09 season, UC Davis has a total of 10 student-athletes who are either a freshman or sophomore. That makes the Aggies the youngest team in the Big West in that category.

UC Davis next sets its sights on a pair of exhibition games this week. The first is scheduled for Tuesday against Bethany before Friday's match-up with Notre Dame de Namur. Both exhibitions feature free admission. They can also be heard on KFSG 1690-AM as well as www.ucdavisaggies.com. Both exhibitions begins at 7 p.m.