Jan. 15, 2009

Box Score

Fullerton, Calif. - Vince Oliver scored 27 points and Mark Payne added 20 on 8-for-8 shooting Thursday night to lead UC Davis to an 85-74 Big West Conference victory at Cal State Fullerton.

The Aggies' first ever win in Titan Gym improved their record to 7-10 overall and 2-2 in the Big West. The Aggies also got 15 rebounds and 14 points from guard Joe Harden. Fullerton got 20 points each from guards Jacques Streeter and Josh Akognon but fell to 8-9 and 2-2 after its second home loss of the season.

Davis shot 56 percent from the floor while Fullerton made only 37 percent of its shots overall and only 5 of 30 3-point tries. The Titans were 1-for-18 at one point. Akognon, among the national leaders in scoring and 3-point field goals, made only 2 of 15 from behind the arc.

Gerard Anderson scored the first 4 points of the second half as the Titans closed a 10-point halftime gap to 6 points but he picked up his third and fourth fouls in the first 2:30. Davis pulled away as Harden scored several times inside and Akognon and the Titans remained cold, hitting only 6 of 19 shots to open the second half.

The Aggies' biggest lead was 18 points at 60-42 with 10:26 remaining. Fullerton got as close as 7 points at 66-59 with 5:57 left but again the Aggies pulled away.

Davis broke away early behind Oliver and Payne from an 8-8 tie to lead by as many as 13 points at 27-14 before Akognon hit the scoring column, having missed his first 4 shots. The Titans made only 6 of their first 18 shots and no 3-pointers in 6 attempts. After Akognon made his first 7 points in an 11-6 Fullerton run that closed the gap to 29-23, the Aggies closed the half with a 7-3 surge for a 36-26 lead at intermission.

The Aggies shot 59 percent from the floor in the first half led by Oliver (7-for-9) and Payne (5-for-5) and outrebounded Fullerton, 22-12. The Titans forced 10 turnovers and committed only four but shot only 31 percent overall and made only 1 of 12 3-point tries with Akognon going 1-for-7.

Fullerton hosts Pacific Saturday night at 8 p.m. In an ESPN2 telecast while UC Davis plays a day game at UC Irvine on FSN Prime Ticket.