DAVIS, CA -- Elijah Pepper scored 15 second half points and finished with 23, Caleb Fuller added 22 and UC Davis defeated the UC San Diego 78-71 at home Saturday.

After having three games canceled due to COVID-19, Saturday evening marked the Aggies' first game since Dec. 22.

UC Davis played with just a two-man bench on Saturday but thanks to Aaron Murphy's career-high eight points, outscored the UC San Diego bench 8-4. 

Trailing 57-60 with 6:56 remaining, a three-point play by Fuller tied the game at 60 and neither team led by more than two until a driving lay-up by Ezra Manjon with 1:55 to go made it 71-68. After a free throw by Fuller, a Triton three-pointer brought UC San Diego within 72-71 but two free throws in a one-and-one situation, free throws by Manjon with 26 seconds to go and two more by Fuller with one second on the clock allowed the Aggies to pull away. 

Pepper and Fuller's stellar scoring performances led the Aggies (7-4) in the contest. Pepper tacked on nine rebounds, three assists, and two steals and Fuller added five rebounds, three assists, and two blocks. Christian Anigwe added 13 and Manjon 10 to give UC Davis four in double-figures. 

The Aggies committed a season-low two turnovers against 10 assists and turned nine Triton turnovers into eight points. 

UC Davis is scheduled to hit a stretch of four straight road games beginning with a trip to CSU Bakersfield on Jan. 13 followed by Cal Poly on Jan. 15.