Rally falls short as Aggie men drop Big West basketball battle to first-place Hawaii
Rainbow Warriors hold on for 77-73 win, dropping UC Davis into seventh place with two games to go
Hawaii made four straight free throws in the final 24 seconds to thwart a spirited UC Davis rally and take a critical 77-73 Big West men’s basketball win before a lively Senior Night crowd of 1,821 Thursday evening at the University Credit Union Center.
The loss was a costly one for the Aggies, who entered the game tied for fourth in the Big West standings, but ended the evening alone in seventh with a 10-8 mark in Big West play and 17-12 overall.
The win allowed the Rainbow Warriors to keep pace with UC Irvine atop the Big West standings, both at 12-5.
In a Thursday night battle to the finish, Irvine edged Cal State Northridge, 68-67, dropping CSUN into third at 11-6.
UC Santa Barbara, a 70-59 winner over UC Riverside, is fourth at 11-7, with Cal State Fullerton and UC San Diego another step back at 10-7.
San Diego dropped Cal State Bakersfield, 84-72.
Cal Poly took a track meet from Long Beach State, 102-92, to hold onto the No. 8 spot at 9-8, one half-game behind the Aggies.
The top eight teams have all qualified for the Big West tournament March 11-14 in Henderson, Nevada, while Long Beach, 4-13, Riverside, 4-14, and Bakersfield, 2-15, will be left home.
The winner of the Big West tournament moves on to the NCAA’s 68-team March Madness.
Thus, the eight left standing, including UC Davis, are all playing for tournament seeding at this point.
Under the Big West’s unique tournament format, Seeds 1 and 2 receive a double bye in the semifinals, while seeds 3 and 4 receive a single bye into the quarterfinals.
Seeds 5 through 8 meet in the opening round, needing four wins in four nights to claim the conference title.
The Aggies still have two road games remaining in the regular season, starting at Long Beach State Thursday night and at UC Irvine Saturday night. The latter will be televised nationally on ESPNU.
After seniors Niko Rocak and Carl Daughtery were honored at midcourt in a pregame ceremony, UCD jumped to a quick 7-2 lead, only to have Hawaii dominate most of the rest of the half to take a 42-31 lead at intermission.
Hawaii stretched that lead to 14 points early in the second half, but consecutive 3-pointers from Isaiah Chappell, Daughtery and Omer Suljanovic brought the Aggies back into the fray, only to fall just short at the end.
“I like the fight we showed in the second half,” said Aggie head coach Jim Les.
“This late in the year you have to be able to execute on both ends of the floor, which we weren’t doing well enough in the first half. Not having a game Saturday is great because this group really needs a week off. They’re physically and mentally tired, but we’ll be ready to go the rest of the way. We still control our destiny, which is a good spot to be in at this time of the year.”
Les had high praise for Rocak, a 6-9 forward from Switzerland who was a shot-blocking presence throughout his career.
“He’s the heart and soul of this team,” said the Aggie coach.
“He’s made such an impact on this program and in the community and he’ll leave here with an undergraduate degree and a master’s degree and be successful whatever he does in life.
“I love him to death and he’ll be a friend for life, and that has nothing to do with points and rebounds, but with what kind of a person he is.”
Rocak, who had 10 points, six rebounds, three assists and three steals for his night’s work, stayed on the court for a few minutes afterward to thank the large crowd for all the support he and his teammates have received throughout his long and productive career.
Reach Bob Dunning at bobdunning@thewaryone.com