Dec. 17, 2009

Final Stats

FRESNO, Calif. - Fresno State defeated UC Davis, 68-57, Thursday night in a non-conference men's basketball game at the Save Mart Center. Joe Harden returned to the lineup after missing the past two games and led UC Davis with 16 points. Dominic Calegari scored 14, and Mark Payne finished with 11. The short-handed Aggies trailed by just two points with eight minutes left before the Bulldogs used a 12-2 run to pull away.

Mike Ladd led Fresno State (5-5) with 18 points, and Greg Smith finished with 17. The Bulldogs shot 56.5 percent from the field while holding the Aggies to 33.3 percent. Each team used strong defense to force one another into 19 turnovers. UC Davis outrebounded Fresno State, 32-30. Calegari led the Aggies with eight boards.

"I thought our kids fought," said UC Davis head coach Gary Stewart. "We didn't have the energy to sustain what we needed to do the last couple of minutes, and that was to our detriment. I'm proud of the way we played. We did what we wanted to do. We did the right things. We just weren't able to put the ball in the basket enough."

The first half was a low-scoring period for both teams. The first field goal of the game came at the 16:52 mark when Ryan Howley made a three-pointer. The score was tied at 3-3 past the 14-minute mark. The first run of the game came from the Bulldogs as they used a 7-0 burst to pull out in front 18-8 with nine minutes left in the half.

UC Davis (3-7) countered with a 9-0 run. Harden started it with a three-pointer. A three-point play by Payne made it 18-14, and Ryan Sypkens made a trey at the 7:44 mark to pull the Aggies within 18-17.

Fresno State led 27-24 before a trey by Michael Ladd made it 30-24 with 2:41 remaining. The half would then end much the way it started with neither team scoring again as Fresno State led by six at the half.

UC Davis scored the first four points of the second half to pull within 30-28. Fresno State then pushed the margin up to nine with a 44-35 lead with 11:17 to play.

The Aggies responded with a 7-0 run started by three free throws by Calegari. Payne then made a jumper followed by a dunk to draw UC Davis within 44-42 with just under 10 minutes remaining.

A layup by Calegari kept the margin at two points with 8:09 to play before the Bulldogs went on their fateful run.

UC Davis played with just eight available players for the third straight game. Todd Lowenthal and Ryan Silva each missed their seventh straight games with injuries while Jacob Ranger is also still out of action for the same reason. Additionally, Julian Welch is suspended indefinitely for violation of team rules.

Fresno State made 10 of 24 attempts from beyond the arc with the Aggies shooting 6-for-18. Payne dished out a season-high eight assists.

UC Davis is next in action Tuesday evening when it plays at Air Force. The game tips at 6 p.m. Pacific time and can be heard on KFSG 1690-AM as well as www.ucdavisaggies.com.