Aggies Play in Annual Blue-Gold Scrimmage

Oct. 29, 2010

DAVIS, Calif. - The UC Davis men's basketball team took part in their annual Blue-Gold Scrimmage Friday, with the Gold team coming out ahead after a 72-65 win. Two-time, All-Big West Conference selection Joe Harden recorded a double-double to lead the Gold team to a come from behind win.

Due to injuries to Todd Lowenthal and Ryan Silva, the inter squad contest saw every participant play all 40 minutes. The hotly contested affair went down down to the final minute, with the Gold team clinging to a 66-65 lead with 41.3 seconds remaining. Senior guard, Mark Payne made six straight free throws in the game's final 32 seconds to seal the victory.

The Gold team got up early and jumped out to 21-10 advantage in the first half. The Blue team responded with a run of their own, outscoring the Gold squad 19-11 to end the half. After 20 minutes of play, he Gold team went into the intermission with a 34-29 lead.

Second half action was back and forth, with the Blue team taking their first lead after a 51-50 score. Freshman Mike Kurtz threw down a dunk for the Blue squad's first advantage of the game. The Gold team took back the lead late in the game, going ahead by four in the final minute. The Blue team narrowed the margin after a Kurtz offensive rebound led to a Ryan Sypkens three, that made it a 66-65 score with 41.3 second remaining in the game.

It was all Gold from there, as Payne's six consecutive free throws wrapped up the final 72-65 win. Payne finished with 16 points and eight assists, while Harden posted 16 points and 10 boards. Ryan Howley led the Gold team in scoring with 17 points on 6 of 9 shooting, while Eddie Miller chipped in with 15 points.

The game featured the first appearance in an Aggie uniform for the most highly accliamed recruiting class to enter UC Davis. The five member class did not disappoint. Freshman Josh Ritchart recorded 19 points on 8 of 11 shooting, while collecting six rebounds. The Citadel transfer, Harrison Dupont led all scorers with 20 points and eight rebounds in the defeat for the Blue team.

"It was a very good opportunity for us to get an evaluation as to where we are," said head coach Gary Stewart. "We did some really good things and we also have some things that we need to get better at. All in all, I was very please with the effort and the willingness to play as a team and the toughness we exuded with five people on each side playing the entire 40 minutes."

UC Davis will host two free exhibition games next week, starting with Menlo College on on Wednesday at 7 p.m. in the Pavillion. The regular season begins Nov. 12, when the Aggies travel to Portland, Ore. to play in three games at the Athletes in Action Classic.