Aggie men sink Keelhaulers, 109-46, in non-conference basketball breather
Jac Mani returns to action to bolster Aggie hopes as Big West play resumes Jan. 2
Coming off a poor performance last week at Pepperdine, UC Davis found its footing and then some in a 109-46 rout of Cal Maritime in a non-conference men's basketball game Saturday afternoon at the University Credit Union Center.
The Aggies are now 8-5 overall, while Maritime falls to 3-9.
The win over the hustling but outmanned Keelhaulers gives the Aggies a shot of confidence as they head back into Big West Conference play Jan. 2 at Cal State Bakersfield.
UCD is 2-0 in league play after wins over Cal Poly and UC Santa Barbara in early December.
After an uncharacteristic 85-46 loss at Pepperdine on Dec. 21, Aggie players were given a few days off to go home before returning to campus on Christmas night.
Even though practice wasn't scheduled that night, Aggie head coach Jim Les said team members were on the court shooting around, and that renewed enthusiasm carried over into Saturday's game.
"We were focused today on our identity and the principles of Aggie basketball," Les said.
"There were a lot of good signs on the court today."
Indeed, there were good signs aplenty as the Aggies used 3-pointers from Leo DeBruhl and TY Johnson to take a quick 10-0 lead and never looked back.
Johnson had 18 points in the first half that ended with UCD up, 61-20, with the Aggies hitting at a 52.5 percent clip from the field, including 50 percent from 3-point range.
Another significant bright spot was the long-awaited return of Jac Mani from injury.
Mani saw 14 minutes of action and contributed 11 points and six rebounds, along with a block and an assist.
"He was just cleared to play two days ago and he can really help us," said Les.
"We just have to get him game-ready, but that was a great start today."
Lukas Prongos, a rare walk-on at the Division I level, saw six minutes of play for the Aggies, making a layup for his first points at UCD, a bucket that made his teammates erupt with cheers.
"I can't tell you about the sacrifices he has made for this team," said Les of Prongos.
"Whatever we need him to do, he does. We can't practice without him."
Prongos, a 6-6 senior from San Rafael by way of College of Marin, added two rebounds to his afternoon's work.
Johnson finished with 21 points, 10 rebounds, four steals and three assists, while Pablo Tamba had 13 points, Carl Daughtery 12 and Connor Sevilla 10. Sione Lose led UCD with five assists.
Derek Sangster came off the bench to pour in nine points with four rebounds, while Nils Cooper had eight points, seven boards and four assists as all 13 Aggies broke into the scoring column.
Reach Bob Dunning at bobdunning@thewaryone.com
Confidence builders…💪🏼💪🏼💪🏼
Aggies basketball teams won tonight 224-75 😳 Wow we got game Go Aggs