Corvallis, OR – In their second meeting in the history of the two programs UC Davis and Oregon State squared off from Gill Coliseum. Oregon State was desperate to end its eight-game losing streak. They faced an Aggie team coming off two wins in a row over Pacific and UC Merced.
After being down 30-28 at the break, the Aggies opened up the second half on a 9-0 run and sprinted past Oregon State for a 71-64 road victory. UC Davis was led by the outstanding play of 5-11 sophomore guard Ezra Manjon who scored 17 of his career-high 27 points (11-19 FG, 1-1 3FG, 4-5 FT), in the second half. The speedy point guard was a handful for the Beavers all evening as they could not keep him out of the paint. Manjon was by far the quickest and fastest player on the floor. He added four rebounds and one steal.
The game produced eight ties and six lead changes with the majority of them coming in a slow, competitive first half. Oregon State opened up their largest lead of the game at 17-10 with 9:20 to play in the half after a three pointer by 6-4 senior guard Xzavier Malone – Key, a transfer from Fairleigh Dickerson. Malone-Key had a good game in his ten minutes of play scoring nine points (4-6 FG, 1-1 FT) displaying his aggressiveness and savvy. The Aggies kept things close with a balanced first-half scoring attack of Manjon (10 points), Caleb Fuller and Ade Adebayo (6 points each). UC Davis also outscored Oregon State 20-14 in the paint. The Beavers used their bench effectively in the half, outscoring the Aggies bench 16-6. They were led by 6-8 junior forward Ahmad Rand who scored 8 of his 12 points (4-7 FG, 4-7 FT) in the half, the last two giving the Beavers the 30-28 halftime lead. Rand played solid in his 20 minutes of play and added ten rebounds as well.
6-4 sophomore guard Elijah Pepper scored his first basket of the game for the Aggies to tie the game at 30-30 as he used his 200-pound frame all evening grabbing ten rebounds along with two blocks and seven points. The Aggies got things rolling with their nine-point run (39-32) and never relinquished the lead from that point, later opening tup a 13-point lead (50-37) with 13:17 remaining. Fuller finished the game scoring 15 points (4-7 FG, 2-5 3FG, 5-7 FT) with three rebounds, and three assists for the Aggies. For Oregon State, Deshawn Davis scored 13 points and added seven rebounds, and six assists. He was the first Beaver player to reach double-digits in scoring with 11:20 remaining and his team down 52-44, Jared Lucas would hit a three- pointer to bring the Oregon State within five points (55-50) with 9:32 left. The Beavers would not get any closer than five points for the rest of the game. Lucas finished the game with 14 points (5-11 FG, 2-5 3 FG, 2-2 FT) two rebounds, and one steal.
Key Game Stats
Field Goal %: UC Davis 50.9 – Oregon State 42.9
Points in Paint: UC Davis 40 – Oregon State 26
Turnovers: Oregon State 18 – UC Davis 16
Oregon State (1-9, 0-2) hosts Texas AM (7-2, 0-0) on December 18th while UC Davis (5-3, 0-0) travels to play Pacific (5-6, 0-0) on December 19th.
This article was written by Lorenzo Leaks, a correspondent and scout for NetScouts Basketball. You can follow us on Facebook, or on twitter.
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