Jan. 6, 2007

Box Score

Davis, CA- The Utah Valley State men's basketball team won its fourth straight game on Saturday when it defeated future Big West foe UC Davis 57-38. The win ups Utah Valley's record to 10-5 while UC Davis dropped to 2-11.

The Wolverines played stifling defense in the second half as they held UC Davis to 14 points after trailing 24-23 at halftime. Utah Valley also out rebounded the Aggies 46-30 with 21 coming on the offensive end.

For the game UV shot 39 percent from the field while Davis shot 30 percent. Ryan Toolson led Utah Valley in scoring with 14 points while Richard Troyer grabbed a career and game high 12 rebounds.

"We had solid play from 10 guys tonight," Utah Valley State coach Dick Hunsaker said. "Everybody that entered the game all contributed to the win and made influential plays."

UC Davis was led by the play of Thomas Juillerat's 11 points.

Trailing by one at halftime, the Wolverines scored the first 10 points of the second half to take a 33-24 lead four minutes in. UC Davis then cut the Wolverine lead to 35-31 following a 3-pointer by Vince Oliver with 12:28 left in the game.

"It was real physical game," Hunsaker said. "UC Davis competed extremely hard. I feel fortunate to be able to come out on top."

David Heck countered the Aggies early second half run by scoring five straight points to extend Utah Valley's lead to 40-31 with 10 minutes left.

After the Aggies cut the Wolverine lead to 40-34, UV took a 48-36 lead following a lay up by Josh Olsen with 5:08 on the clock. Troyer upped the lead 51-36 two minutes later following a put back and a free throw. The Wolverines biggest lead of the game was 21 at 57-36.

UC Davis was held scoreless for nearly the final seven minutes of the second half before Ari Warmerdam scored a final basket with three seconds left in the game.

The first half was a battle for both teams as the score was tied five times and the lead changed hands twice. UC Davis clung to a slim 24-23 lead at half time. Neither team shot the ball well in the half as both teams shot 35 percent from the field.

With the score tied at 16, the Wolverines scored seven straight points to take a 23-16 lead following a Toolson 3-pointer with 3:45 left in the half. Peter Brown also had two buckets during the run.

But Utah Valley was held scoreless over the final minutes of the first half and UC Davis scored eight straight points to take its one-point lead at the break.

"They were real disciplined with the things they ran," Hunsaker said. "We struggled with some of our offensive sets against them."

Utah Valley returns to the court on Wednesday January 10 for an in-state contest at Utah State. The Aggies defeated the Wolverines 69-65 in Orem on December 9.