Box Score

GREENVILLE, S.C. - Tied at 33-33 with 17:20 left in Saturday's non-conference game at Timmons Arena in Greenville, S.C., UC Davis scored the next five straight points to build a lead that lasted the entire game as the Aggies defeated Furman, 58-55, to sweep both games played during its inaugural road trip of the season.

The win pushes UC Davis' record to 3-0 for the first time since the 1999-2000 season; Furman falls to 1-2 with the result.

It has been nearly one year to the day since UC Davis won consecutive games away from Davis; the Aggies defeated SIUE on Nov. 22 and Loyola the following day at last year's Portland State Tournament.

Since those games were, technically, neutral-site contests. Aggie basketball fans will need to revisit the 2012-13 schedule to discover the last time UC Davis won two true road games in a row. Those victories took place at UC Riverside and Cal State Fullerton - the final road games of the Aggies' 2012-13 league slate.

"That was a total team win. That was a very excited locker room after the game, and it should be. This group deserves to experience success," said head coach Jim Les following the game.

Corey Hawkins led all players with 21 points on 8 of 14 shooting, J.T. Adenrele led all players with eight rebounds in addition to his seven points and Josh Fox played his best game as an Aggie by scoring 11 points on 5 of 6 shooting.

By finishing with five points, Josh Ritchart will enter Wednesday's home contest against Utah State, the first of three straight taking place inside the Pavilion in the upcoming weeks, with 999 career points,

Drawing all-Southern Conference first team recipient and Furman's leading scorer Stephen Croon as his defensive assignment, Avery Johnson did a tremendous job limiting Croon's influence in Saturday's game, forcing other Paladins to step up and fill his scoring void.

Even though Croon finished with a team-high 15 points, he was help to just four points throughout his 16 first-half minutes. The bulk of Croon's scoring took place throughout the early moments of the second half as Johnson's lock-down defense prevented Croon from influencing the final minutes of a wild game.

"Everything starts with Avery, he sets the tone for us on defense. When you have one guy playing with that kind of intensity on defense, it is contagious," said Les.

Leading by seven with more than two minutes on the clock, free throws from Furman forward John Davis and a three from Daniel Fowler pulled the Paladins within two with less than a minute remaining.

As was the case Thursday evening, a free throw from Hawkins extended the Aggies' lead to three with five seconds remaining.

With Johnson hugging his hip, Croon had no choice but to throw up desperation three, on the run from 30 feet away. That shot hit nothing but the side of the backboard when the buzzer sounded.

Due to Johnson's defensive prowess, that shot was the only one taken by Croon throughout the final four minutes of the game. With his teammates now forced to carry the offensive load, the Paladins were forced to play themselves out of a deficit for nearly the entire second half.

Led by Fox, UC Davis' bench outscored the Paladins' reserves by a 25-19 margin.

"This is the Josh that we are use to seeing in practice, we just needed him to show everyone else when the lights were on," said Les.

For the second straight road game, UC Davis shot 50 percent or better and finished Saturday's game by connecting on 24 of 46 shots (52.2 pct.). By comparison, Furman made 18 of 43 shots and finished with a 41.9 field goal percentage.

Starting with Wednesday's non-conference game against Utah State, the Aggies will play their next three games at home. That homestand will continue Saturday night when Utah Valley visits the Pavilion and conclude with a Dec. 3 tilt against San José State. All three games will tip at 7 p.m.

UC Davis 58, at Furman 55
11/22/14 7:30 p.m. at Greenville, S.C. (Timmons Arena)

UC DAVIS (3-0)
Hawkins, Corey 8-14 1-2 21; Fox, Josh 5-6 1-2 11; Adenrele, J.T. 3-4 1-3 7; Les, Tyler 2-4 0-0 6; Ritchart, Josh 2-8 0-0 5; Lemar, Brynton 2-3 0-0 4;
Monson, Neal 2-2 0-0 4; Johnson, Avery 0-2 0-0 0; Graham, Darius 0-3 0-0 0. Totals 24-46 3-7 58.

FURMAN (1-2)
Stephen Croone 5-11 3-3 15; John Davis 4-8 4-4 14; Daniel Fowler 5-8 0-0 11; Kris Acox 2-2 4-4 8; Devin Sibley 1-2 0-0 3; Kevin Chuisseu 1-3 0-2 2;
Kendrec Ferrara 0-3 2-2 2; William Gates 0-2 0-0 0; Larry Wideman 0-4 0-0 0. Totals 18-43 13-15 55.

UC Davis...................... 30 28 - 58

Furman........................ 27 28 - 55

3-point goals--UC Davis 7-18 (Hawkins, Corey 4-7; Les, Tyler 2-4; Ritchart,Josh 1-5; Johnson, Avery 0-1; Fox, Josh 0-1), Furman 6-24 (John Davis 2-5; Stephen Croone 2-8; Daniel Fowler 1-3; Devin Sibley 1-1; William Gates 0-2; Larry Wideman 0-3; Kendrec Ferrara 0-2). Fouled out--UC Davis-None, Furman-None. Rebounds--UC Davis 24 (Adenrele, J.T. 8), Furman 24 (Kris Acox 6; Kevin Chuisseu 6). Assists--UC Davis 16 (Hawkins, Corey 4), Furman 8 (William Gates 2). Total fouls--UC Davis 16, Furman 12. Technical fouls--UC Davis-None, Furman-None. A-913