Box Score

DAVIS, Calif. - Siler Schneider's floater in the lane with 14 seconds remaining capped a UC Davis rally from 17 points down in the second half but Luke Nelson's two free throws with two seconds to go spoiled the comeback, giving UC Irvine a hard-fought 62-61 Big West men's basketball win before a nationally televised audience on ESPN2 and 4,573 fans at the Pavilion.

Josh Fox scored 20 points and had nine rebounds for UC Davis while Darius Graham and Schneider each had 14 as the Aggies fell to 10-17 overall and 5-9 in the Big West. Jaron Martin scored 16 points for UC Irvine, which improved to 22-8 and 11-3. Mamdou Ndiaye, the Anteaters' 7-foot-6 center, grabbed a game-high 14 points.

"We did not get the desired result, but the effort, energy, togetherness and energy of this team was on full display in front of an unbelievable crowd. They deserved a better result, but sometimes, life is not fair," said UC Davis head coach Jim Les.

"This group is playing its tail off, but that is an unbelievably good basketball team. We've proven to ourselves that we can play with anyone in this league."

UC Davis trailed 41-24 with 16:09 left in the second half after a jumper from Mike Best but the Aggies slowly whittled into the lead, getting it to 47-38 off Schneider's bucket and then 49-43 after Fox scored with 10 minutes to play.

The Aggies shot 60 percent in the second half and they needed every bit of those hot hands to grind into the deficit. Lawrence White's layup with 3:44 on the clock cut it to 54-52 and UC Davis stayed close down the stretch. Graham found Schneider open at the top of the key with 19 seconds to go and Schneider delivered with his second trey of the game to bring the Aggies to 60-59.

UC Davis' defense then went to work, forcing UC Irvine to call timeout when it couldn't inbound the ball and then creating a turnover when it happened again. Schneider then ran into the key, lofted a short floater and the Aggies had their first lead since early in the game, 61-60.

Nelson missed from three on the Anteaters' ensuing possession but the ball stayed with UC Irvine after a scramble on the ground that resulted in the ball going out of bounds. Nelson was then fouled by White while the ball was being inbounded and Nelson sank the game-winning free throws. Graham's long shot from near midcourt was off the mark as time expired.

Fox added six assists and a steal for UC Davis while Schneider added five assists. Best scored 10 points for the Anteaters.

"I talked to Josh about leading us tonight physically, mentally and emotionally. You couldn't ask for a better leader tonight. He directed this team, it fed off his energy, and he made some big shots.

"With that out-of-bounds play that went to him (late in the game), that tells you what we think of (Schneider). He's got a lot of moxie, he wants the ball late in the game and he rewards us with a lot of shots," Les said.

UC Davis will host league-leader Hawai'i on Thursday at 7 p.m.

UC IRVINE 62, UC DAVIS 61

UC IRVINE (22-8, 11-3 BWC)
Martin, Jaron 6-10 0-0 16; Best, Mike 5-14 0-0 10; Nelson, Luke 3-11 2-3 9; Ndiaye, Mamadou 4-8 0-2 8; Young, Alex 3-7 0-0 7; Dunning, Dominique 1-1 1-24; Dimakopoulos,Ioannis 2-6 0-0 4; Galloway, Jonathan 1-1 1-1 3; Wright, Aaron 0-1 1-2 1; Smith, Brandon 0-0 0-0 0; Saprykinas, Haroldas 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 25-59 5-10 62.

UC DAVIS (10-17, 5-9 BWC)
Fox, Josh 9-14 2-3 20; Schneider, Siler 6-11 0-0 14; Graham, Darius 5-15 0-0 14; White, Lawrence 3-5 0-0 6; Lemar, Brynton 1-5 0-0 3; Goode, Garrison 1-2 0-0 2; Monson, Neal 1-1 0-0 2. Totals 26-53 2-3 61.

UC Irvine..................... 32 30 - 62
UC Davis...................... 20 41 - 61

3-point goals--UC Irvine 7-16 (Martin, Jaron 4-6; Nelson, Luke 1-4; Dunning, Dominique 1-1; Young, Alex 1-2; Wright, Aaron 0-1; Dimakopoulos,Ioannis 0-2), UC Davis 7-20 (Graham, Darius 4-12; Schneider, Siler 2-4; Lemar, Brynton 1-3; Fox, Josh 0-1). Fouled out--UC Irvine-None, UC Davis-None. Rebounds--UC Irvine 36 (Ndiaye, Mamadou 14), UC Davis 28 (Fox, Josh 9). Assists--UC Irvine 19 (Nelson, Luke 8), UC Davis 17 (Fox, Josh 6). Total fouls--UC Irvine 13, UC Davis 15. Technical fouls--UC Irvine-None, UC Davis-None. A-4573

ESPN2 broadcast of UC Davis' home game
Courtside Technician: Tim Ornelas