Men’s basketball
Joe Harden scored 15 points and hauled in 10 rebounds to lead UC Davis to an 89-69 victory over Bethany in an exhibition game at the Pavilion on Tuesday.
Harden led a group of four Aggies who finished with at least 10 points. Mark Payne and Ryan Silva each scored 12, with Payne dishing out eight assists and Silva posting five steals. In addition, Adam Malik finished with 10 points. Bethany’s George Golden led all scorers with 21 points.
Harden scored 10 of his team-high 15 points in the first half while Silva tallied nine points in the half.
In all, a total of 14 Aggies played with all but two getting in on the scoring. Kyle Brucculeri finished with nine points. Michael Boone and Nathan Clark both scored six.
The Aggies‘ largest lead was 23 when they led 89-66 with seven seconds remaining.
UC Davis shot 52 percent from the field and 44 percent from beyond the arc. The Aggie defense held Bethany to just 39 percent from the floor as well as 39 percent from beyond the arc. The Aggies outrebounded the Bruins, 42-38. The two teams combined for 46 turnovers with Bethany committing 26. UC Davis finished with 26 assists.
UC Davis is next in action Friday night when it hosts Notre Dame de Namur in its final exhibition. The game tips off at 7 p.m., and there is no charge for admission. It can also be heard live on KFSG 1690-AM as well as ucdavisaggies.com.
Women’s basketball
The UC Davis women’s basketball team opens its exhibition play in hosting Australian Showtime tonight at the Pavilion. The game will begin at 7 p.m.
The Aggies, coming off a championship appearance at last year’s Big West Conference Tournament, have been picked to finish third by the league’s head coaches and in a tie for second by the media, according to preseason polls.
Additionally, junior Haylee Donaghe, an All-Big West second-team selection last season, was named to the 2008-2009 Preseason All-Conference Team selected by media members.
UC Davis will play Sonoma State in its second and final preseason contest on Monday at 7 p.m. The regular season tips off on Nov. 14 at Southern Utah.
Aggie Digest is compiled by the California Aggie sports staff with briefs from the UC Davis athletics website, ucdavisaggies.com.
