Jan. 10, 2009

Final Stats

DAVIS, Calif. - Long Beach State defeated UC Davis, 86-78, Saturday night in a Big West Conference men's basketball game at The Pavilion. The 49ers built as much as a 23-point lead but saw the Aggies rally in the second half and close to within five. Mark Payne led UC Davis with a career-high 22 points to go along with a game-high 10 rebounds and seven assists. It was the second straight double-double for Payne. Donovan Morris led Long Beach State (9-7, 4-0 Big West) with 27 points.

Vince Oliver added 19 points for UC Davis while Joe Harden finished with 14. Dominic Calegari was also in double figures with 13 points.

UC Davis (6-10, 1-2 Big West) stormed out to a quick double-digit lead behind eight points and two dunks by Payne to make it 17-7 barely six minutes into the game. The 49ers responded with a 15-3 burst to make it 22-20 at the 8:30 mark. A three-pointer by Calegari gave the Aggies a 25-24 lead with 7:45 left in the half, but Long Beach State outscored UC Davis 28-4 over the next six minutes and led 52-29. The 49ers would take a 52-30 lead into the break.

The Aggies spent most of the second steadily cutting into the deficit, starting with a 9-2 run in the opening 2:18 to pull within 54-39. Harden scored seven of his 14 points during that stretch.

Trailing by 18 with 13:50 remaining, UC Davis went on a 12-2 run to get within 64-56. Calegari made two three-pointers in the blitz, and Harden capped it off with a one-handed dunk following a missed layup by Payne with under nine minutes left.

LBSU would push the lead back to 12 at the 6:59 mark, but the Aggies battled back with a 6-0 burst. Nathan Clark started it with a three-pointer, and Oliver finished it with a three-point play as UC Davis trailed 68-62 with 5:51 left.

The lead crept back to 12 once again after a layup by Morris made it 76-64 with two minutes remaining. The Aggies would get as close as 83-78 with 18 seconds remaining before the 49ers scored their final three points from the free throw line.

Both teams shot over 50 percent with the 49ers edging the Aggies 56 percent to 55 percent. UC Davis was hurt by 12 first half turnovers but gave up the ball just twice in the second half. The 49ers committed eight turnovers on the night, and held a 30-29 advantage on the boards.

UC Davis is next in action Jan. 15 when it takes on Cal State Fullerton. The contest begins a two-game road trip, which concludes two days later at UC Irvine.