PORTLAND — Trailing 36-31 in Saturday afternoon's game at Portland, UC Davis opened the second half with back-to-back baskets from
Matt Neufeld, which forced the Pilots to call timeout. That break in the action barely fazed UC Davis since a pair of threes from
Stefan Gonzalez and another from distance, hit by
Rogers Printup, erased the Aggies' first-half deficit and gave them a 41-40 lead.
Throughout the rest of the game, eight lead changes and two tied scores took place, thanks to the Aggies' ability to score in the paint — 26 of their points were earned down low — and defense, which forced seven of Portland's 11 turnovers after halftime.
Led by Neufeld's team-high 18 points, combined with another 13 Aggie points earned from those Pilot miscues, UC Davis placed themselves in position for a thrilling finish inside the Chiles Center.
Throughout the final minutes of the game, Portland just did not miss its attempts from the floor, even with the Aggies forcing it to take awkward shots in crunch time, and the Pilots hit their free throws to pull away late and record a 72-62 win.
UC Davis will head to Cal for Tuesday's 7 p.m. game, televised by the Pac-12 Networks, with a 2-5 overall record. Portland will continue its season at 5-1.
Printup and Gonzalez set new career and season highs, respectively, by leading all Aggies with six rebounds;
Kennedy Koehler and
Elijah Pepper each finished with five boards. Printup's also posted a season-high 11 points.
In addition to his game-high five assists,
Ezra Manjon also scored 11 points for the Aggies.
"There is no double about how their hustle plays impacted the game," said head coach
Jim Les regarding the play of Printup, Gonzalez, Koehler, Pepper and Manjon, especially during the team's second-half run. "One play led to another, it was infectious," said head coach
Jim Les.
UC Davis trailed by as many as 11 early in the game, but thanks to its 12-5 run, which took place throughout the final minutes of the first half and the opening minutes of the second, it took the lead and set up a fierce back-and-forth battle for a game that included another eight lead changes before the final buzzer sounded.
"We earned that lead through good ball movement, being patient, and then we kind of got away from that. And we talked about that in the locker room afterwards," said Les.
"When the game gets close, the details need to be great."
Starting with Tuesday's I-80 showdown at Cal, UC Davis will play a pair of Pac-12 opponents throughout the holiday week. After they face the Golden Bears, the Aggies will head to Salt Lake City for a non-conference matchup at Utah.
TOGETHER, WE CAN ACCOMPLISH ANYTHING
Directly impact the lives of potential, and current UC Davis basketball student-athletes, by joining the Aggie Round Table.
With support from this select group of insiders, the men's basketball program can expand its recruiting efforts to find prospects who will thrive at the fifth-ranked public school in the nation, compete at a championship level and represent the University in a first-class manner as one of its ambassadors.
Contact
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