Hornets earn first victory by defeating Aggies
December 10, 2008
The Sacramento State Hornets defeated the UC Davis Aggies Wednesday night, 82-70. The win against rival UC Davis was the Hornets’ first of the season, improving their overall record to 1-5, 0-5 in the Big Sky Conference. The loss by UC Davis drops their record to 2-6.
The key to the Hornets’ success against the Aggies was the efficient three-point shooting of senior guard Loren Leath. Leath converted on six three-pointers (6-10), including five in the first half, which kept the Hornets ahead for the rest of the game.
The Hornets shot .474 percent (9-19) from three-point range to the Aggies 20 percent (5-25), which ultimately proved to be the difference. The 31 points scored by Leath was a team high, with center Justin Eller also contributing 17 points and 10 rebounds.
“It was just a big game. Everyone comes out for the big game,” said Leath. “As a team we couldn’t dwell on our five losses. The first one is always the hardest one.”
The Hornets had an 11-point lead at halftime with the help of 10 turnovers committed by the Aggies, many of which led to easy fast break baskets for the Hornets. In the second half, the Hornets continued to wear down the Aggie defense as they totaled 18 assists for the game compared to 12 assists for UC Davis.
With Leath and junior guard Antonio Flaggs shooting well from outside, the Aggies were forced to guard the Hornets’ perimeter players leaving junior Justin Eller open inside the paint. A drop off pass from Leath led to an easy dunk for Eller, giving the Hornets a 16-point lead with 13 minutes remaining in the second half.
A block by Eller late in the game led to a fast break score for the Hornets, giving them enough for the win.
“It’s just a great win in front of a home crowd,” Eller said, “It gives some attention to our program and it’ll give us some momentum for the rest of the season.”
“It just means we got better. Everybody will want to make a big deal about us beating Davis,” coach Brian Katz said. “That’s fine, but I just want us to get better.”
Mike Mital can be reached at [email protected]