Jan. 15, 2009

Final Stats

DAVIS, Calif. - Gary Stewart picked up his 200th career victory as UC Davis defeated Cal State Fullerton, 85-74, Thursday night in a Big West Conference men's basketball game at Titan Gym. Vince Oliver scored a season-high 27 points, and Mark Payne added 20 for the Aggies. UC Davis (7-10, 2-2 Big West) led most of the night and built as much as an 18-point lead in the second half.

Joe Harden had his fourth double-double of the season with 14 points and a career-high 15 rebounds. Josh Akognon and Jacques Streeter each scored 20 for Cal State Fullerton (8-9, 2-3 Big West).

Payne and Oliver were a dominating duo in the first half as they accounted for 24 of the Aggies' first 29 points. Oliver had 14 points in the first half while Payne had 12. The Aggies had three runs of six points or more in the first half, forcing the Titans into three timeouts by halftime. The first run was a 6-0 burst to make it 8-4 three minutes into the game.

After the Titans tied it at 8-8, the Aggies ran off six straight points again. Harden started it with a jumper followed by a fast-break layup by Oliver. Payne capped it off with a dunk to give UC Davis a 14-8 lead. Cal State Fullerton cut it to 16-12 before a 7-0 run by the Aggies made it 23-12 at the 8:27 mark. Dominic Calegari made a three-pointer to start the blitz, and Oliver converted a pair of field goals to complete it. UC Davis built its largest lead of the half on a Payne bucket to make it 27-14 with 5:56 remaining.

Meanwhile, UC Davis was busy holding Akognon to just two free throws. The senior leads the Big West in scoring and had to wait until the 5:43 mark of the half to make his first field goal attempt. It was a three-pointer that started a 5-0 run to cut the deficit to 27-19. The Titans would get as close as 29-23 before the Aggies closed the half leading 36-26.

UC Davis shot 59 percent in the half compared to the Titans' 31 percent. The Aggie accuracy was helped by Oliver and Payne combining for 12-for-14 from the field in the half. UC Davis also held a 22-12 edge in rebounding at halftime.

Cal State Fullerton spent the second half trying to put together a run to get back into the game, but the Aggies didn't allow the Titans to get closer than six. The last time was with 17:12 left when the lead was down to 42-36. UC Davis then went on an 18-6 run and led 60-42 midway through the second half. The final six points of the run came from three-pointers by Oliver and then Kyle Brucculeri.

For the game, UC Davis shot 56 percent and held Cal State Fullerton to 37 percent. The Aggies outrebounded the Titans, 42-36. Payne finished with eight rebounds, and Brucculeri came off the bench to snag four boards.

"I was really pleased with the defense, particularly in the first half," said Stewart. "We stayed aggressive, and that was the key. We got great leadership from our seniors. Vince was terrific, and David (Carter) was outstanding, especially on the defensive end where he made some great plays."

Overall, Payne went a perfect 8-for-8 from the field and 4-for-4 from the line. Oliver made 11 of his 16 field goal attempts while adding five rebounds and four assists. Sophomore Todd Lowenthal finished with a season-high nine points.

UC Davis is back in action Saturday afternoon when it faces UC Irvine at 1:05 p.m. at the Bren Events Center. The game can be heard on KFSG 1690-AM as well as www.ucdavisaggies.com. It will also be televised on Comcast SportsNet California and FSN Prime Ticket.