UCD men win Hamilton

Sunday, Nov. 22, 1998

UCD men win Hamilton

By BRANDON FRINK
Enterprise staff writer

For those emotionally attached to the athletic endeavors at UC Davis, there was some joy to be had after all.

While most of the Aggie Nation undoubtedly mourned Texas A&M-Kingsville's Shermanesque torching of Toomey in the afternoon football game, the men's basketball team did bring a little brightness on an otherwise dark day in UCD sports history.

The Aggies won the second Hamilton Classic by dispatching a purple band of marauders from the Pueblo State, New Mexico Highlands, 63-55 in front of a passive 1,236 at Hamilton Court.

``We found a way to win, but we still have a long way to go,'' said UCD coach Brian Fogel, whose team won its 22nd consecutive game at Hamilton Court. ``We've won two games now where we haven't played well, and if we can win not playing well, that's great.''

UCD never trailed but never really knocked anybody's socks off either.

Like he has so many times, All-American guard Dante Ross pulled out his hard hat and laid the cement in a very typical UCD victory.

The senior guard scored 10 of the Aggies' final 11 points, never letting the Cowboys get within a lasso of the lead.

Ross led all scorers with 18, not to mention turning a variety of New Mexico pressing schemes into wasted efforts.

``I thought we competed hard, but there's a lot of things we need to work on,'' Ross said. ``Even last year we were awkward in the beginning. You always need time.''

With 11 first-half turnovers, the Aggies were actually lucky to be leading by eight at halftime.

New Mexico had sliced UCD's lead to three on a Jamien Smith jumper with 43 seconds remaining in the half, but Ross came back on the Aggies next possession to nail a 3-pointer.

Then, with two seconds remaining after a Cowboys turnover, J.C. Timmons heaved a prayer from 40 feet, missing everything but Scott Darmstadt's hands.

The sophomore caught the miss and reversed it off the glass for a 34-26 lead.

In the second half, New Mexico again cut the lead to three with 17:18 left on a Leland Robertson jumper.

But the Aggies went on a 10-2 run from that point on, highlighted by a take-the-charge-if-you-dare, power layup by freshman forward Jordan Moss. The three-point play gave UCD a 45-35 lead with just over 12 minutes remaining.

New Mexico never got closer than six.

``I thought we played them hard,'' New Mexico coach John McCullough said. ``We just couldn't get our shots to go in. I don't know how they thought they played, but they did a lot of things good tonight.''

While UCD didn't exactly agree with McCullough in terms of its performance, the team did get a chance to try a variety of different things.

Among the many different lineups was one in which Ross moved to shooting guard while freshman Tyler Boyd took the point.

The lineup worked down the stretch for the Aggies, as Ross scored 10 consecutive points.

``When Tyler's in there it gives me a rest,'' Ross said. ``When he comes in there, I can move over to two (guard) and see things more.''

The Aggies will now go to the altar and prepare for Holy Names College, which travels to Hamilton Court on Wednesday. Tipoff is 7 p.m.

While Holy Names should hardly be much of a workout for the Aggies, the teams won't exactly be looking at the competition. Instead expect another internal evaluation.

``These guys weren't very good, and that's what's disappointing. We should have had two 25-point wins,'' UCD forward Jason Cox about the New Mexico game and Friday's 67-49 win over Humboldt. ``It's nice to win, but it wasn't a very good performance.''