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DAVIS, Calif. — Before the start of Thursday's home game, the final one of the season for UC Davis, the men's basketball program honored six seniors: student managers Harry Finnerty and Cameron Patterson, guards Stefan Gonzalez, Rogers Printup, Joe Mooney and center Matt Neufeld. Once action commenced, a crowd of 1,648 witnessed a back-and-forth battle until the final buzzer sounded.
 
With Hawai'i up by five with less than a minute remaining until halftime, Mooney hit a three from the near corner and the Rainbow Warriors missed their final shot before the break. However, Manjon collected that rebound on the 'Bows final shot of the half, with just over a second remaining and nailed a three from just outside the three-point arc, on UH's half of the court, to give the Aggies a 31-30 lead.
 
In addition to three tied scores, the lead changed hands four times throughout the night before Samuta Avea was responsible or the fifth occasions when hit a contested three from the far corner, with 1.2 seconds left on the clock, that lifted the Rainbow Warriors to a 67-65 victory.
 
UC Davis will end the season Saturday night at UC Riverside, and head to the Inland Empire with a 14-17 overall and 8-7 Big West record. Hawai'i will travel to CSUN with records of 17-12 and 8-7 for its season finale. 

Other Big West games taking place on the final day of the season include Cal Poly at UC Santa Barbara and Long Beach State at Cal State Fullerton. Once Saturday's round of action concludes, visit UCDavisAggies.com to find out who the Ags will face in next Thursday's Big West Tournament quarterfinal, and when that game will tip-off.
 
Ezra Manjon paced the Aggies' offense with a game-high 18 points, on 8 of 11 shooting, and led all players with five assists. Elijah Pepper and Caleb Fuller each added 11 points; Pepper also finished with a game-high seven rebounds.
 
"For 35 minutes, we played a good game and deserved to win, but you need to play for 40 minutes," said head coach Jim Les.
 
"There is not much we can do about this game, but we can get ready for the one on Saturday. We are still battling for positioning and need to focus on that."
 
Even though the Aggies out-shot the Rainbow Warriors from the floor (47.3 percent vs. 41.8 pct.), and from three (46.7 pct. to 36.8 pct.), UH finished 14 of 17 from the line compared to a UC Davis team that sank 6 of 9 attempts.
 
Aggie basketball fans can watch Saturday's regular season finale on BigWest.TV, listen to Scott Marsh's broadcast on 1380 AM KTKZ or through the station's TuneIn Radio channel.
 


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 Liz Martin (Assistant Athletics Director, Leadership Giving & Alumni Engagement) at (530) 574-8623 or emartin@ucdavis.edu to find out how you can join this exclusive club!