UC DAVIS HOLDS OFF NC CENTRAL



DAYTON, OH.- The stage was set as #16 NC Central Eagles played against #16 UC Davis Aggies to see who will move on.

The Aggies was aggressive to start the game led by forward Chima Moneke who was making plays and hitting big shots. But NC Central did not let that disrupt their style of play Guard Dajuan Graf shows how effective he can be working the ball and hitting the three - ball keeping the Eagles in the contest. The Aggies 9 turnovers allowed the Eagles to get back into the game erasing a 23-15 deficit to go up 3, 34-31 at the half.

The second half was a different story as UC Davis started to have NC Central playing their game and the began to show more aggressiveness as Moneke and guard Lawrence White started the scoring early and often with their hustle and shooting going on a 9-0 run to put the Aggies out in front and miscues by the Eagles plague them badly.

NC Central makes their comeback using their size and defense in plugging up the middle and scoring led by Graf and guard Patrick Cole. UC Davis did not help their cause as they started to turn the ball over and the Eagles went on a 23-18 run since being down 49-40 but with it wasn't enough as UC Davis beat NC Central 66-63.

NC Central miscues late in ball game hurt them and poor shot selection after being down early cost them the game. UC Davis stuck to the game plan from the first half fast paced and aggressive and they won the game. Leading Scorers- UC Davis: Chima Moneke 18 pts, 12 rebs Brynton Lemar 15 pts Lawrence White 14 pts NC Central Dajuan Graf 15 pts Kyle Benton 13 pts 12 rebs Patrick Cole 13 pts Pablo Rivas 12 pts. Davis shot 46% from the field to NC Central 36%. 3pt %: UC Davis 5/16 (31%) NC Central 5/26 (19%) Rebounds: UC Davis 40 NC Central 30 Turnovers: UC Davis (9) NC Central (18).  UC Davis is moving on in the tournament now they face the #1 seed Kansas Jayhawks.