Box Score

AIR FORCE ACADEMY, Colo. - A 14-5 second-half UC Davis run chopped a game-high 16-point Air Force lead to seven with just under eight minutes remaining in Thursday afternoon's non-conference game at the U.S. Air Force Academy, and the Aggies pulled within four as the final media break of the game approached, but three Air Force threes helped the Falcons pull away in the final minutes to record a 77-67 win.

UC Davis will enter its brief holiday break with a 6-7 record while Air Force improves to 7-6. The Aggies will return to the court on Dec. 28 and face Seattle U in their final non-conference road game of the year.

J.T. Adenrele set a new season high by recording 12 rebounds, three shy of a career high, and finished one field goal short of recording a double-double. Brynton Lemar led all Aggies with 14 points, followed by Chima Moneke and his 13. Darius Graham and Siler Schneider each finished one point shy of posting double figures; in addition to Adenrele, Lawrence White added eight points.

The Aggies also forced Air Force to turn the ball over 18 times, the most by any opponent this season, which led to 25 points, another season-high total.

UC Davis led 28-27 until the Falcons hit a three just before time expired in the first half. A 9-2, Air Force run at the start of the second half helped extend its lead; another 9-0 spurt minutes later pushed that advantage into a game-high figure.

It was then when UC Davis began its comeback, eventually pulling within four points entering the homestretch.

After Schneider hit two free throws, the Aggies responded to an Air Force basket by scoring eight unanswered. Following White's free throws, Schneider, Graham and Moneke all scored on layups to pull the UC Davis within eight.

Following the under-8 timeout, Lemar scored five straight and Moneke scored another two at the stripe to turn what was once a double-digit deficit into a two-possession contest.

UC Davis entered Thursday's game as the top-shooting team from three, but experienced an uncharacteristic shooting performance from behind the arc as it only hit 3 of 14 attempts. On the other side of the court, the Falcons hit seven threes - out of their 15 field goals recorded throughout the second half - including three in the final minutes to pull away from the Aggies.

"We had some good looks, and had the right guys shooting them. [Air Force] stayed in a zone, and you cannot blame them with the way we were shooting from three," said head coach Jim Les.

In a whistle-plagued game that saw a combined 46 fouls called, both teams took full advantage of numerous trips to the free throw line. UC Davis connected on 13 of its 16 attempts; Air Force hit 19 of 27.

"I told the guys that we did a nice job in the first half … but you cannot come on the road and give another team 27 free throws. With numerous guys on three fouls [early in the second half], that took away their aggressiveness," said Les.

UC Davis will begin prepping for its upcoming road game early next week.

Added Les, "It's good to get a three-day break, from a physical and mental standpoint, before competing in the final two games before the conference season."



AIR FORCE 77, UC DAVIS 67

UC DAVIS (6-7)
Lemar, Brynton 5-17 3-4 14; Moneke, Chima 5-10 3-3 13; Schneider, Siler 3-7 2-2 9; Graham, Darius 3-8 1-2 9; Adenrele, J.T. 4-7 0-0 8; White, Lawrence 3-4 2-2 8; Mooney, Joe 1-3 1-1 3; Henn, Mikey 1-3 1-2 3; Hennings, Arell 0-4 0-0 0; Onyebalu, Michael 0-1 0-0 0; Goode, Garrison 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 25-64 13-16 67.

AIR FORCE (7-6)
TOOHEY, Frank 6-8 5-6 17; VAN, Jacob 4-8 2-2 13; NORMAN, Dane 5-9 0-0 13; SIPLES, CJ 3-5 1-2 9; SCOTTIE, Lavelle 1-3 6-8 8; KOCUR, Zach 2-6 2-2 7; LYONS, Trevor 2-4 1-3 6; GRAHAM, Hayden 1-2 0-0 2; MANNING, Ryan 0-2 2-4 2; LOUDER, Pervis 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 24-49 19-27 77.

UC Davis...................... 28 39 - 67
Air Force..................... 30 47 - 77

3-point goals--UC Davis 4-23 (Graham, Darius 2-5; Schneider, Siler 1-5; Lemar, Brynton 1-7; Mooney, Joe 0-2; Henn, Mikey 0-1; Hennings, Arell 0-2; Onyebalu, Michael 0-1), Air Force 10-21 (VAN, Jacob 3-5; NORMAN, Dane 3-3; SIPLES, CJ 2-4; LYONS, Trevor 1-1; KOCUR, Zach 1-5; LOUDER, Pervis 0-1; MANNING, Ryan 0-1; SCOTTIE, Lavelle 0-1). Fouled out--UC Davis-Schneider, Siler, Air Force-GRAHAM, Hayden. Rebounds--UC Davis 34 (Adenrele, J.T. 12), Air Force 37 (SCOTTIE, Lavelle 8). Assists--UC Davis 10 (Graham, Darius 3), Air Force 17 (KOCUR, Zach 5). Total fouls--UC Davis 27, Air Force 19. Technical fouls--UC Davis-TEAM, Air Force-None. A-1021