University of California, Riverside
UC Davis
UC Davis Defeats Highlanders, 75-69
1/26/2006 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
The UC Davis Aggies handed the UC Riverside Highlanders a non-conference loss with a 75-69 decision at the Pavilion in Davis Thursday. The Aggies improved to 6-13 overall. UCR is now 2-16 overall.
Junior guard Dedrick Bates led the Highlanders with a game-high 18 points, and sophomore guard Larry Cunningham had 14 and senior forward Steve Williams added 13. Freshman Christian Soto had 10 points on 4-of-5 shooting, including a pair of threes, but was 0-of-5 from the free throw line. The Highlanders were 26-of-57 (46%) from the field, 7-of-15 (47%) from the three point line, but just 10-of-19 (53%) from the free throw line.
The Aggies got 17 points by Thomas Juillerat, 12 each from Vince Oliver and Kyle Brucculeri, 11 points from Rommel Marentez and 10 by Phil Rasmussen. The Aggies were 25-of-53 (47%) from the field, 5-of-13 (38%) from the three point line and 20-of-30 (67%) from the free throw line. UCR outrebounded UC Davis, 38-32, but the Highlanders committed 17 turnovers to the Aggies 13.
The Aggies led 31-22 at halftime, outscoring the Highlanders with a 9-0 run over the final 4:12 of the half to break open a tie ball game. In the run the Highlanders missed seven field goals and three free throws. The Highlanders held a 19-15 lead with 7:08 remaining in the half, but scored just one free throw and one field goal in the final nine minutes of the half.
The Highlanders opened the second half strong and cut the margin to four at 35-31 with 17:16 left on a three by Bates. However, the Aggies quickly bounced the margin back to 10 at 41-31. The lead increased to as many as 13, before UCR whittled it down to four points at 62-58 on Soto's second trey with 4:47 left. But UCR could never get any closer than six in the final minutes.
