Feb. 21, 2009

Final Stats

DAVIS, Calif. - The UC Davis men's basketball team was defeated by Fresno State, 71-70, Saturday night in a non-conference game at The Pavilion. The match-up was one of 51 games across the nation this weekend that were part of the ESPNU BracketBusters event. The Bulldogs overcame a late three-point deficit in a game that featured 12 lead changes and 11 ties.

Joe Harden led all scorers with a career-high 25 points, and Dominic Calegari finished with 16. Vince Oliver added nine points while Mark Payne scored six to go along with a team-high seven rebounds and seven assists. The loss dropped UC Davis to 12-15 overall. Fresno State improved to 11-17.

Sylvester Seay led the Bulldogs with 20 points, including a game-tying three-pointer with 1:23 left that made the score 69-69. Bryce Cartwright scored two of his 13 points on a layup with 47 seconds left, which put Fresno State up 71-69.

The Aggies pulled within 71-70 when Harden went 1-for-2 from the line with 28 seconds remaining. Four seconds later, Seay missed a free throw at the other end as the score remained 71-70. With time running down, Payne had a shot blocked in the lane with three seconds left.

The largest lead of the night by either team was eight by Fresno State in the first half. The Bulldogs led 38-33 at the break.

The Aggies led by as many as four after Calegari made a three-pointer with 5:20 remaining to give UC Davis a 65-61 lead. The junior finished 2-for-6 from beyond the arc.

UC Davis shot an even 50 percent for the game while Fresno State finished at 49 percent. The Bulldogs outrebounded the Aggies, 35-25. Mychal Ladd was a big part of that success as he grabbed 10 rebounds while scoring 14 points. On the other side, Harden went 8-for-11 from the field, including 2-for-2 from beyond the arc.

UC Davis is next in action Wednesday when it resumes Big West play at Pacific.