Box Score Jan. 8, 2010
Final Stats
SANTA BARBARA, Calif. - UC Santa Barbara defeated UC Davis, 68-47, Friday night in a Big West Conference men's basketball game at The Thunderdome. The Gauchos led by just five points with eight minutes to play but closed the game on a 23-7 run. It was the first Big West loss of the season for UC Davis, which dropped to 6-9 overall and 2-1 in the conference. Julian Welch led the Aggies with 12 points while Dominic Calegari and Joe Harden each added 11. James Nunnally led UCSB (7-6, 2-1 Big West) with 17 points.
The game was tied 26-26 at the half, and UCSB led just 45-40 with eight minutes remaining before its closing run. The Gauchos shot a blistering 72 percent in the decisive second half and finished 58 percent overall. The Aggies were held to just under 40 percent for the game. In addition, UCSB did not allow a field goal in the final 6:55. The loss also snapped the Aggies' three-game winning streak.
"We just let down a little bit on the accelerator," said UC Davis head coach Gary Stewart. "You can't do that on the road against (UCSB) in that type of environment, and it cost us dearly."
UC Davis played its second straight game without its leading scorer, Mark Payne. Todd Lowenthal, who had missed the previous 11 games with a wrist injury, returned to the lineup. However, Ryan Silva did not play in the second half after suffering a wrist injury in the first half. Silva had started his second straight game in place of Payne.
UC Davis trailed most of the first half with its only advantage coming early on with a 4-2 lead. The Gauchos went on a 9-0 run to lead 11-4 six minutes into the game. UCSB extended the lead to 18-9 midway through the half before the Aggies began to chip away.
Welch started a 6-0 run with a three-pointer at the top of the key. A free throw by Jelani Floyd was followed by a steal and fast-break layup by Lowenthal, and UC Davis was within 18-15 with 8:29 remaining in the half.
UC Santa Barbara led 23-17, but the Aggies again clawed back with a 6-0 run. It featured a Lowenthal layup, a dunk by Calegari and a spinning layup by Welch to tie the game at 23-23 with 1:01 left.
It looked as if the Gauchos would head to halftime with the lead after Jon Pastorek made a three-pointer with 28 seconds left. However, the Aggies had an answer as Harden banked in a trey from deep on the right wing as time expired to tie the game at 26-26.
UCSB began the second half by building the lead up to 38-32 after an Orlando Johnson dunk at the 14:21 mark. After a fast-break dunk by Harden, the Gauchos went on a 7-1 burst to take a 45-35 lead with just under 10 minutes to play.
The Aggies cut the deficit in half after a jumper by Harden and a three-pointer by Adam Malik in the right corner with 8:32 left. UCSB countered with a 17-2 run and led 62-42 with 3:19 remaining.
Malik finished with five points while Lowenthal and Floyd each scored four. Calegari led the Aggies with five rebounds. UCSB outrebounded UC Davis, 29-22.
UC Davis concludes its road trip Sunday afternoon when it plays at Cal Poly. The game begins at 2 p.m. at Mott Gym and can be heard on KFSG 1690-AM as well as www.ucdavisaggies.com.
