UC Davis men overcome sluggish start for the win

Enterprise staff

BAKERSFIELD — Elijah Pepper converted six 3-pointers as UC Davis overcame a sluggish start to rout Cal State Bakersfield, 79-58, in a Big West Conference men’s basketball game at the Icardo Center Thursday night.

Pepper hit six of eight from long range and finished with 28 points as the Aggies won for the sixth time in their last seven starts to push their Big West mark to 6-3 and overall record to 13-8. Bakersfield is now 2-7 and 6-14. UCD stopped the Roadrunners, 67-48, earlier this month in Davis.

With the Aggies leading 31-22 late in the first half, Pepper hit three consecutive bombs in 96 seconds to give UCD a 40-22 advantage at the break.

He then opened the second half with another 3-pointer and a field goal to complete a personal 14-0 run in the span of 2:49 as the Aggies pushed the count to 49-22.

“I felt good out there and I have to give my teammates credit for getting me the ball when I was in position to shoot,” Pepper said. “It feels great to get this one and now we’re ready to get another one and get to 7-3.”

The Aggies, 3-1 on the road in Big West play, trailed 7-2 early, but took the lead for good at 14-11 on a 3-pointer from Leo DeBruhl.

Back-to-back treys by Pepper and Sione Lose led to a 20-13 margin and the Aggies remained in control the rest of the way.

UCD led by 27 points on three occasions in the second half — the final time at 53-26 — before Bakersfield rallied to cut the deficit to 61-47 on a basket by Antavion Collum wth 5:56 remaining.

But it was Pepper again who broke the threat with yet another long-range bomb that was followed by two free throws from TY Johnson and a basket by Ade Adebayo to put things away.

Adebayo hit seven of eight field goal attempts to finish with 14 points, while Johnson added 13. The Aggies shot a sizzling 63.4 percent from the floor for the night.

“At the start of the game we were a little bit out of sync and disheveled,” said UCD head coach Jim Les.

“But overall I was really pleased with our effort. We played hard and we were the aggressors. There were a lot of positive signs and we were able to get some separation.”

The Aggies now head to Long Beach State for a 1 p.m. Saturday game. The Beach crushed Cal Poly, 70-52, Thursday night to push its record to 5-4.

“This will be a tough one,” Les said of Long Beach.

“They’re long and athletic. Saturday won’t be easy, but we’ll be up to the challenge.”