Box Score

DAVIS, Calif. - On one end of the court the Aggies were draining threes throughout Thursday night's game at Lantz Arena in Charleston, Illinois; the other featured stellar defense from the Aggies, especially in the final seconds when Eastern Illinois was unable to earn a clean look at a game-tying basket at the buzzer in a game that UC Davis won by a 63-61 score.

For the first time since the 2000-01 season, UC Davis opens its season with a 2-0 record. EIU falls to 1-2 with Thursday's result.

"We made some clutch shots from three and gutted out a victory," said UC Davis head coach Jim Les. "These guys worked hard all night long and stepped up their intensity on defense when we needed it the most."

In a three-point contest that featured three Aggie seniors, Corey Hawkins finished 5 of 7, Tyler Les shot 3 of 5 and Josh Ritchart made 2 of 5 from distance. Combined, the trio was a main reason why UC Davis shot 50 pct. from behind the arc.

By shooting 23-for-46 against the Panthers, the Aggies also recorded an identical field goal percentage. EIU, on the other hand, was stifled by UC Davis' defense and connected on only 20 of 53 shots (38 pct.).

Fueled by his long distance shooting, Hawkins led all players with 28 points, Les finished his evening with nine. By scoring 14 points, Ritchart now needs just six more to reach the 1,000 career point milestone.

J.T. Adenrele chipped in another seven points and owned the boards throughout his 27 minutes of action as he led all Aggies with eight total rebounds and three offensive boards.

Trailing by two with four seconds remaining in the game, and zero timeouts available, Panther guard Dylan Chapman furiously raced down the court in an attempt to generate one last clean look at the basket in an attempt to either tie or win the game. Instead of pulling up and taking a three-point shot from 25 feet, Chapman chose to dribble around J.T. Adenrele and Josh Fox who stood tall with their arms extended at the three-point line.

By dribbling around the Aggie duo, Chapman was forced to duck under a wall of arms and attempt a game-tying fadeaway. That attempt never stood a chance from the moment it left Chapman's arms as it fluttered towards the bottom of the backboard, fell woefully short and off-line.

That attempt capped a wild second half that saw the Aggies erase a four point deficit to take the lead for good with 1:14 left in the game.

A three-point shot from Ritchart evened the score at 58-58 with a shade over three minutes remaining; after Luke Piotrowski missed the back end of two free throws, Hawkins connected on a floater to give the Aggies a 60-59 advantage.

From there, UC Davis made three of its last four free throw attempts-all from Hawkins-compared to EIU who made its only two shots from the line. That differential, combined with a clutch stop on defense, helped the Aggies leave Lantz Arena with a two-point victory.

Led by Trae Anderson, who finished with 16 points and fell one rebound shy of a double-double, four EIU players scored in double figures.

UC Davis will return to action and end its road trip Saturday afternoon at Furman. Tipoff is scheduled for 4:30 p.m. (PT)/7:30 p.m. (ET).

UC Davis 63, at Eastern Illinois 61
11/20/14 7 p.m. at Charleston, Ill. (Lantz Arena)

UC DAVIS (2-0)

Hawkins, Corey 9-16 5-7 28; Ritchart, Josh 6-9 0-0 14; Les, Tyler 3-5 0-0 9; Adenrele, J.T. 3-5 1-3 7; Graham, Darius 1-2 0-0 2; Johnson, Avery 1-5 0-0 2; Lemar, Brynton 0-0 1-2 1; Dueck, Justin 0-0 0-0 0; Monson, Neal 0-0 0-0 0; Fox, Josh 0-4 0-0 0. Totals 23-46 7-12 63.

EASTERN ILLINOIS (1-2)

ANDERSON, Trae 5-14 5-7 16; CHATMAN, Dylan 5-8 2-2 15; OLIVIER, Chris 6-11 1-4 13; JOHNSTON, Cornell 3-9 2-2 10; PIOTROWSKI, Luke 1-3 2-5 4; SMITH, Reggie 0-5 2-4 2; ANDERSON, Keenen 0-2 1-2 1; PIPER, Josh 0-0 0-0 0; VERHAGEN, Jake 0-0 0-0 0; JOHNSON, Anthony 0-0 0-0 0; VISER, LeTrell 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 20-53 15-26 61.

UC Davis...................... 34 29 - 63

Eastern Illinois.............. 33 28 - 61

3-point goals--UC Davis 10-20 (Hawkins, Corey 5-7; Les, Tyler 3-5; Ritchart, Josh 2-5; Johnson, Avery 0-2; Fox, Josh 0-1), Eastern Illinois 6-11 (CHATMAN, Dylan 3-4; JOHNSTON, Cornell 2-4; ANDERSON, Trae 1-2; SMITH, Reggie 0-1). Fouled out--UC Davis-Ritchart, Josh, Eastern Illinois-None. Rebounds--UC Davis 28 (Adenrele, J.T. 8), Eastern Illinois 38 (ANDERSON, Trae 9). Assists--UC Davis 14 (Graham, Darius 5), Eastern Illinois 16 (JOHNSTON, Cornell 7). Total fouls--UC Davis 26, Eastern Illinois 14.

Technical fouls--UC Davis-None, Eastern Illinois-None. A-1044