Feb. 13, 2014

Box Score

FULLERTON, Calif. - By generating a three-point play with his layup and subsequent free throw with three-seconds left until halftime, Corey Hawkins became the 20th Aggie in school history to reach the 1,000-point threshold when UC Davis visited Titan Gym Thursday night to face the Cal State Fullerton Titans.

Hawkins is the second Aggie this season to add his name to this exclusive list of scorers, one that also includes teammate Ryan Sypkens who added his name earlier this year when UC Davis hosted Sacramento State.

Unfortunately for the Aggies, Fullerton was able withstand a scoring drought and a late scoring push by the Aggies to defeat UC Davis 74-64 and secure a split of the season series.

As the Big West Conference's bye team for Saturday's round of games, UC Davis will return to action on Thursday, Feb. 20, when Long Beach State visits The Pavilion. The Aggies will enter that matchup against the 49ers with an 8-17 overall and 3-7 league record, Cal State Fullerton improves to 8-15 and 3-6 with Thursday's result.

In addition to finishing with a team-high 21 points, Hawkins was one of two players, along with Brynton Lemar, to grab a team-high five rebounds.

"It is an honor to reach this milestone, but I must admit that I was unaware of my situation entering this game," said Hawkins. "All credit goes to my teammates, it is their aggressive play that creates a lot of open looks for everyone on the court."

"It does not matter who is in the game, we always look to find the best possible shot; when I am given that opportunity, I want to reward my teammate's trust and faith in me," added Hawkins.

Five ties and five lead changes took place throughout the opening 20 minutes of the Aggies' lone game of the week. Neither team possessed a lead larger than five points until a Cal State Fullerton scoring run created the largest lead of the half.

Before Hawkins' record-setting possession, Justin Dueck earned two of the Aggies' 22 points in the paint on a layup with 49 second left until the break. Once UC Davis' defense forced an awkward three-point attempt on the other end, Hawkins took the ball strong to the basket, scored another two points and was fouled. By completing the three-point play at the stripe, Hawkins earned the nine points needed to reach 1,000 for his UC Davis career.

In less than a minute, UC Davis silenced the crowd at Titan Gym by scoring on back-to-back possessions, plays that helped the team generate momentum just moments before halftime.

With one last-second desperation heave taken between the three-point arc and half court, a Fullerton bank shot bumped its lead to double digits at the break.

UC Davis pulled within seven points early in the second half, only to see the Titans bump their lead back to double digits shortly thereafter. From that point on, each team traded baskets; on various occasions, a mini-run by one team was quickly followed by a matching run by the other.

By making six of its final eight free throws following the final media timeout of the game, CSUF was able to prevent UC Davis from creating the final scoring run needed to overtake the Titans.

Prior to that break, UC Davis was able to keep Cal State Fullerton off the scoreboard for 2:13; during that timespan, the Aggies scored six straight points to pull themselves within reach of Fullerton entering the game's final minutes.