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(January 4, 2008) –
UC Riverside fell 58-54 to UC Davis (7-7, 1-0 Big West) Friday
night up in Davis, CA. Sophomore Sean Cunningham's game-high
22 points wasn't enough as the Highlanders (3-10, 0-2 Big
West) dropped their second straight Big West Conference game.
Junior Aaron Scott added
eight points in support of Sean Cunningham as UCR outscored
UCD 32-27 and shot 13-for-23 (56.5%) in the second half in
their attempt to overcome their nine point half-time deficit.
Even though their attempt fell short, one good sign was that
the young Highlanders controlled the battles down low, outscoring
UCD 30 to18 and also out-rebounded the Aggies 35-30. Junior
Severing Gates brought down a game-high eight rebounds.
The Highlanders surrendered
back-to-back three’s to the Aggies and found themselves
down 13-8, just over eight minutes into the game. UCD then
used a 10-3 run over the next six minutes to build a 23-11
lead and later led by as much as 14. Riverside did battle
back prior to halftime, putting together a 7-2 run in the
final 1:44 to cut the Davis lead to 31-22 at the break.
Another night of the opposing
team coming out hot in the first half led to the Highlanders
again trailing after the first 20 minutes. UCD shot 11-of-22
(50%) from the floor including five three’s while UCR
knocked down only nine of their first 24 shots (37.5%). Sean
Cunningham led all scorers with 10 first-half points.
UCR came out with better
energy to start the second half, scoring the first six points
off of lay-ups from three different Highlanders to cut the
lead to 31-28, just two minutes into the period. The Aggies
answered, with their own 6-0 run to re-open their nine-point
lead, 37-28 at the 14:49 mark.
Both teams continued to
trade baskets over the next nine minutes before two consecutive
lay-ups by Scott and a three from senior Larry Cunningham
cut the UCD lead to five, 47-44 with 5:32 remaining. A lay-up
by Larry Cunningham a minute later closed the Aggie lead to
just two, 48-46.
Again the Highlanders pressured
and made some shots down the stretch, but Davis found a way
to answer those Riverside baskets with some points of their
own. With just over a minute to go, Sean Cunningham’s
lay-up pulled UCR within one, 53-52. Ryan Silva’s lay-up
at the 1:01 mark gave the Aggies a 55-52 lead. UCR was then
whistled for a foul, away from the ball, awarding Davis another
trip to the line. Vince Oliver made one-of-two from the line
for a 56-52 lead. Sean Cunningham’s jumper gave him
his career-high 22nd point and made it 56-54, Aggies, with
30 seconds to play. Riverside was forced to foul and UCD’s
Nathan Clark knocked down two big free-throws to ice the game
for Davis and preserved the 58-54 victory.
The Highlanders return home
to start a three-game home-stand beginning with Cal State
Fullerton on Monday at 7:00 p.m. in the Student Rec Center.
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