Jan. 10, 2010

Final Stats

SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. - Julian Welch scored a career-high 25 points, but it wasn't enough as Cal Poly came from behind to defeat UC Davis, 72-69, Sunday afternoon in a Big West Conference men's basketball game at Mott Gym. Dominic Calegari added 23 points in the loss as UC Davis fell to 6-10 overall and 2-2 in the Big West. Lorenzo Keeler led Cal Poly with 22 points, and David Hanson added 16. It was the third straight game UC Davis played without its leading scorer, Mark Payne.

UC Davis led by as much as nine points early in the second half, but Cal Poly (5-9, 2-1 Big West) rallied to take a seven-point lead with less than a minute left. The Aggies hit a trio of three-pointers in the final 25 seconds but could only get as close as 70-69 with less than a second remaining.

UC Davis used a strong first half to build a seven-point halftime lead. The Aggies shot 74 percent in the opening period and made eight of their final field goals. Cal Poly scored the first five points of the game before the Aggies' first field goal came at the 16:03 mark on a three-pointer by Adam Malik. The Mustangs led 13-9 after a bucket by Justin Brown with 13:11 left in the half.

UC Davis then held Cal Poly without a field goal for over six minutes and outscored the Mustangs 11-2 in the process. A three-point play by Calegari on a dunk put the Aggies in front 20-15 with 7:26 left in the half.

Cal Poly pulled within three before the Aggies went on a 10-4 run. The surge was capped off by consecutive three-pointers by Calegari and Welch to make it 30-21 at the 4:45 mark. A layup by Joe Harden with 3:55 left pushed the lead back to nine at 32-23 before both teams would go scoreless for over three minutes. The Aggies' final points of the half came off of a Calegari trey with one second left to make it 35-28 at the break.

It was 37-28 early in the second half, but Cal Poly outscored UC Davis 12-5 and tied the game at 42-42 on a pair of free throws by Brown with 14:52 to play. The Aggies countered with four straight points, including a trey by Welch, and built the lead back to 46-42. The Mustangs responded with an 11-2 blitz and led 53-48 with under eight minutes remaining.

Trailing 55-50,Welch scored the next eight Aggie points. The freshman's three-pointer with 5:46 left tied the game at 58-58. A pair of free throws by Calegari put UC Davis on top, 60-58, with just under three minutes left. From that point, Cal Poly scored nine straight points to take a 67-60 lead with 33 seconds remaining.

Welch, Calegari and Harden each made three-pointers in the final 25 seconds, but Cal Poly scored five points from the line during the stretch to hang on for the three-point win.

"We didn't get it done. We had a lead at halftime, but our defense failed us in the second half," said UC Davis head coach Gary Stewart. "We gave up 44 points in the second half, and anytime you do that to a team whether you are on the road or at home, that almost always tends to be detrimental."

UC Davis shot 52 percent for the game but managed just 37 percent in the second half. Cal Poly finished at 51 percent. The Mustangs outrebounded the Aggies, 29-27. UC Davis was hurt by an 11-for-24 effort from the line.

Welch finished 5-for-6 from beyond the arc. He shot 8-for-13 from the field and also added a team-high five assists. His previous career-high was 15 points against both UC Santa Cruz and Seattle.

"Julian was terrific," added Stewart. "Not just the 25 points but the five assists. He shared the ball, was aggressive and put it in the interior. That's kind of what we saw in him when we recruited him, and we expect those type of nights."

Calegari added three treys along with a team-high six rebounds. His 23 points puts him at 997 for his career. Harden was the third Aggie in double-figures with 14 points.

Sunday's game capped off a busy stretch for the Aggies, who played four games in nine days. Their lone game in the upcoming week is a home game against UC Irvine Thursday night at The Pavilion.