Nov. 27, 2011

Final Stats

CHENEY, Wash. - Sophomore Josh Ritchart had a team-high 19 points, including 11 after halftime when he hit a trio of three-pointers, but host Eastern Washington used a 19-1 run to break open a tie game on its way to a 79-59 nonconference men's basketball win on Sunday at Reese Court.

The Aggies dropped to 1-6 as they begin a stretch of six road games over their next seven while Eastern Washington, which was led by Cliff Ederaine's game-high 23 points, improved to 3-2. Tremayne Johnson and Cliff Colimon each added 13 points for the Eagles while Laron Griffin scored 11.

Harrison Dupont finished with 11 points for the Aggies who had eight three-pointers in the game.

UC Davis and Eastern Washington were engaged in a close game throughout much of the first half and during the first seven minutes of the second half. Ritchart's third three-pointer after halftime - he had a career-high tying five overall - knotted the game at 46-46 with 13 minutes, 23 seconds left.

However, the Eagles scored 10 points over the next three minutes, keyed by a three-pointer from Colimon and back-to-back buckets from Griffin, to forge a 56-46 lead. The Aggies were held without a point for nearly six minutes and without a field goal for eight minutes as Eastern Washington built their lead to 65-47 with 6:39 left.

The Aggies got the deficit down to 14 points but could not get closer the rest of the way.

"On the road you want to give yourself a chance to be in the game and with (13 minutes) to go, you're right where you need to be and it comes down to getting defensive stops," said Aggie coach Jim Les. "I think the tape will show we had a couple of possessions where we didn't play the defense we were in or (what was in) the scouting report exactly the way we wanted to and, of course, good players and good teams are going to take advantage of that."

Eastern Washington needed that big run to turn back a UC Davis squad that battled back from an early 9-point deficit to take a 24-23 with 5:20 left before halftime. The Eagles eventually took a slim 31-29 lead at the break.

Cliff Ederaine was the early catalyst for Eastern Washington, scoring 11 points in the opening 20 minutes including nine in the first 6-1/2 minutes. His basket just over five minutes in, part of seven straight points that he scored, made it 13-4. Ryan Howley's three-pointer later cut the deficit to 17-12 while Ritchart's trey made it 19-16 with 8:49 to go.

The Aggies stayed close and then picked up two free throws from Harrison Dupont and a layup from Ritchart to lead 24-23 with 5:29 to go in the half. Tyler Les' three-pointer brought UC Davis to within two at the half.

"I was pretty happy in the first half," Les said. "(We held them to) 37 percent shooting, 23 percent from three, and again we were more active, more mobile.:

Eastern Washington was held to just 37-percent shooting in the half before making 60 percent (15 of 25) in the second. UC Davis shot 35.4 percent for the game.

Ritchart was 7 of 12 from the field, including 5 of 12 from three-point. He also had seven rebounds, tying DuPont and Howley for team-high honors. The Eagles held just a 35-32 advantage on the boards.Tyrell Corbin and Alex Tiffin each had four assists.

Ritchart hit five three-pointers for the fifth time in his career and the second time this season. He also did it against Bryant back on Nov. 12.

UC Davis will return to action on Saturday when it hosts its only game in December, facing Idaho at 2 p.m. at The Pavilion.