DAVIS, Calif. -- Ezra Manjon scored 26 points and Elijah Pepper had 16, but the Aggies fell to the Long Beach State Beach 70-63 at home Saturday.
Pepper added 10 rebounds for his double-double of the season. Caleb Fuller had nine points and five rebounds before fouling out late in the second half.
The Aggies (8-7, 1-3) turned 14 Long Beach State turnovers, nine on steals, into 13 points and out-rebounded the Beach 37-36.
After falling behind 9-6, UC Davis went on a 10-0 run with 15:55 left in the first half, culminating in a bucket from Christian Anigwe, to take a 16-9 lead. Long Beach State used an 8-2 run to climb back in the game and hit a three with 35 seconds left in the half to force a 35-35 tie going into the locker room.
Long Beach State then snagged a 51-42 advantage before UC Davis responded by going on a 5-0 run, finished off by Pepper's layup, to shrink the deficit to 51-47 with 8:24 to go in the contest. The Aggies again got as close as 53-49 with 7:47 to go but the Beach responded with a 6-0 run to go up 10 with under six minutes to play and the Aggies got no closer than down eight multiple times inside the final three minutes of regulation.
The Aggies will travel to UC Riverside next for a Tuesday tip at 7 p.m. before hosting Hawai'i at home on Feb. 5 at 5 p.m.
ABOUT UC DAVIS
Centrally located between San Francisco and Lake Tahoe, over 700 student-athletes across 25 teams enjoy an unrivaled undergraduate experience at the fifth-ranked public school in the country.
Ranked annually in the nation's top 10 in diversity and students' social mobility, UC Davis and its innovative Aggie EVO System helps student-athletes develop passions, connect with a comprehensive network of alums and industry leaders, gain real-world experience, and thrive as a young professional following a successful launch to full-time employment or graduate school.
