Box Score Nov. 13, 2009
Final Stats
EUGENE, Ore. - Colorado State held off UC Davis, 91-73, Friday evening in a non-conference men's basketball game at McArthur Court in Eugene. Mark Payne led the Aggies with 19 points, and Joe Harden added a double-double with 14 points and 11 rebounds. Andy Ogide led CSU and all scorers with 24 points as both teams battled in their season openers at the Basketball Travelers Tip-Off Tourney.
Payne and Harden were two of four Aggies who finished in double figures. Dominic Calegari posted 12 points, and freshman Ryan Sypkens added 11. Payne and Calegari each hauled in five rebounds.
CSU opened up an early 10-4 lead and still owned a five-point lead after an Andre McFarland three-pointer with 12:53 remaining. That's when the Aggies put together their biggest run of the game. A free throw by Sypkens was followed by a Calegari layup. Julian Welch then made two free throws as UC Davis tied the game at 16-16 with 9:34 left in the half.
The burst would become a 13-2 run as Payne knocked down a trey. A layup by Payne was followed by a three-pointer by Welch, and UC Davis led 24-18 with just over eight minutes left in the half.
Colorado State countered with a 15-4 run and eventually led 48-42 at the half. The Rams were helped by 20 first-half points by McFarland, who went 6-for-7 from beyond the arc by intermission.
Colorado State increased its lead to 62-50 in the first 5:23 of the second half and led by as many as 12 on several occasions throughout the half. UC Davis would put together min-runs but only got as close as six the rest of the way. The last such time was with 8:20 to play when Harden went 1-for-2 from the line to make it 68-62.
A three-pointer by Harden pulled UC Davis within 74-67 at the 5:56 mark, but the Rams would close the game on 17-6 run to account for the final margin.
"Tonight was a coach's nightmare in relation to their ability to shoot threes," said UC Davis head coach Gary Stewart. "We felt like if we could get some momentum and force them to miss some opportunities, we would gain some strength on that. We weren't able to that. To our credit, we kept fighting and fighting."
CSU finished the game 15-for-24 from beyond the arc and shot 56 percent overall. Three different Rams had at least three treys.
"The good part is there's a lot of correctible things here," added Stewart. "We can get better. Obviously the defense has to get better, but you have to give the credit to Colorado State. Sometimes you fight a team that's on fire, and they were, and we just couldn't get them stopped tonight. But, we'll play better basketball."
Payne's line also included seven assists, two steals and a block. Calegari and Todd Lowenthal had two steals.
UC Davis was without redshirt freshman Jacob Ranger who is still out with a high ankle sprain. Ryan Silva played just two minutes while still recovering from a hamstring injury.
UC Davis is next in action Saturday when it takes on host Oregon at 2 p.m. The Aggies conclude the tournament Sunday against Winston-Salem State at 1 p.m. All games can be heard on KFSG 1690-AM and www.ucdavisaggies.com.
