As the men's basketball team's double-digit lead dwindled to three late in the second half Saturday night, Head Coach Craig Robinson got nervous. Fears of a repeat of the Bears' one-point loss to Wagner College on Wednesday flashed through his head.
But fortunately for Robinson and his team, the Bears were able to pull away this time behind the strength of its veteran players. Mark McAndrew '08 scored 18 points and Damon Huffman '08 and Chris Skrelja '09 added 15 points each as the Bears eventually rolled over the University of California at Davis, 73-57.
"I'm really happy," Robinson said. "We got a lead, they came back, and, unlike the Wagner game, we got back to another lead."
For the first time at the Pizzitola Center this season, the Bears looked like the dominant team. The Bears never trailed, starting the game on 6-0 and 13-3 runs and ending the first half with a 35-28 lead. They played quicker than Davis, beating defenders on drives and backdoor cuts.
More importantly, the Bears did not beat themselves, as they did against Wagner when they missed important free throws down the stretch. On Saturday, the team went to the free-throw line 34 times - a product of its aggression on offense - and sunk 29 of the shots.
"UC Davis was trying to pressure us and it opened up the lane," said McAndrew, who made 10 of his 12 free throws.
The win improves the Bears' record to 3-3, while Davis, which is playing in its first year of Division I competition, falls to 4-3. The victory also avenges the Bears' loss last season at Davis, when Brown fell 49-47 on a buzzer beater to the then-Division II school.
But on Saturday, Davis point guard Vince Oliver, the hero of last season's game, couldn't get himself or his teammates going. Ryan Silva scored a game-high 13 points, but on 4-of-15 shooting. The Aggies shot just 31.6 percent on the field for the night, and despite the presence of 7'2" center Michael Boone, were out-rebounded 40-24. Scott Friske '09 led the way for the Bears with seven rebounds.
Robinson was thrilled with the performance, though he was upset by the team's 19 turnovers, which helped the Aggies take 17 more shots than the Bears.
"(That) was awful because most of these were unforced errors," Robinson said, "but we out-rebounded them, which is a big thing for us." He also said he was glad that the team was able to improve its full-court press break.
McAndrew said the team was thrilled to win for two reasons.
"One, we wanted to beat them because they beat us at the buzzer at their place," he said. "Two, we wanted to win at home. We were 0-2 at home."
The Bears will try to carry their momentum to Quinnipiac University, in Connecticut, tonight. The game will be the Bears' third in six days. Robinson isn't particularly concerned about fatigue, especially since several young bench players, including Peter Sullivan '11, Matt Mullery '10, Adrian Williams '11 and Chris Taylor '11, have logged significant minutes.
"The great thing is that we have eight or nine guys we can put in a game," Robinson said. "We'll have enough substitutions. I just hope we play well."
