Long Beach State University Athletics
49ers Defeat UC Davis
12/28/2006 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Long Beach Rolls To 89-75 Win
Six Players Score In Double Digits
December 28, 2006
| MEN'S BASKETBALL | 1 | 2 | FINAL | RECORDS |
| Long Beach State | 42 | 47 | 89 | 8-4 |
| UC Davis | 29 | 46 | 75 | 1-9 |
| Leading Scorers: LBSU: Aaron Nixon/Mark Dawson 16; UCD: Thomas Juillerat 15 Leading Rebounders: LBSU: Dominique Ricks 7; UCD: Thomas Juillerat 5 | ||||
| BOX SCORE | ||||
DAVIS, CA-- Long Beach State had six players score in double digits, led by 16 points from Mark Dawson and Aaron Nixon, in an 89-75 non-conference win at UC Davis on Thursday evening. The win, the sixth in a row for the 49ers, improved their mark to 8-4 on the season. UC Davis fell to 1-9.
Dawson tied his previous career-high of 16 points which he set last year at this same arena against UC Davis. Also chipping in in double digits were Kejuan Johnson and Kevin Houston with 14 points, Sterling Byrd had 12 and Louis Darby a season-best 10 points. The 49ers shot .429 (30-70) from the field, .476 (10-21) from three-point range and .731 (19-26) at the free throw line.
"I thought Mark Dawson played his best game of the year," said 49er Head Coach Larry Reynolds. "He was active on defense in the first half and he was good around the basket. We did a good job taking care of the basketball. Being in single digits in turnovers is huge for us. We've talked a lot about that heading into conference play, taking care of the basketball. In the second half we made good decisions and did not turn the ball over. I think the biggest stat that stands out was the 38 points we scored off turnovers.
UC Davis committed 22 turnovers in the contest which led to their demise. The Aggies shot .500 (25-50) from the field and .579 (11-19) from three-point range, but still fell. Thomas Juillerat led Davis with 15 points, while David Carter added 13 points and five rebounds.
The 49ers broke open a close first half with its defense. Long Beach forced 14 first half turnovers by UC Davis and converted those miscues into 26 points. Nixon scored 13 of his 16 in the first half and Dawson had 10 points and three boards in the opening stanza. Long Beach shot .368 (14-38) from the field, but was a perfect 9-9 at the free throw line. The 49ers also out-rebounded the Aggies 20-19, with 10 of the 20 boards coming on the offensive glass. UC Davis hit five of its first six three-pointers to stay in the contest.
Trailing 19-17 at 8:54, the 49ers went on a 13-0 run to take a 30-19 lead at 6:51 after a Dawson jumper. Dawson had seven points during that key run. The Aggies closed to within 34-29 at 3:20, but the 49ers closed the half strong on a 8-0 run to take a 42-29 halftime lead.
The 49ers led by double digits the entire second half, with its biggest lead of 20 points (74-54) coming with 8:48 left. The Aggies would get no closer than 11 points (86-75) the remainder of the game.
"We got our point total up a little bit and that was nice to see," said Reynolds. "We were being aggressive towards the basket and not just settling for the three. Kevin Houston did a good job of penetrating and distributing the ball. I thought we created some offense with our defense, especially in the first half."
Long Beach will next be in action on Saturday, December 30 when they host Manhattan College at 7:05 pm in the Walter Pyramid. That will be the first of three consecutive home games for The Beach as they open Big West Conference play on January 4 against UC Santa Barbara.
