The final 2 minutes of the game were wild and the final seconds were just plain crazy. With the Ags up 3 Les had Graham commit a foul rather than risk SB hitting a 3 to tie the game. But, Darius timed his foul late and fouled the player in the act of shooting. The kid misses the first FT so now he needs to make the second FT and intentionally miss the third. He hits the second and tries to miss the third but banked it in. The Ags inbound the ball up one and SB immediately fouls Graham with 1.6 seconds left. Darius hits both FT's to put us back up by 3. SB inbounds the ball and almost banks in a half court 3 and the Ags escape with a win. They also denied Bob Williams getting his 500th win.

In his post-game comments, Coach Les said, "We've got to get better real fast. We have lost our defensive intensity and this team has to have that to succeed." It's true, we are not the kind of team that is going to run anyone out of the gym with our offense. We must defend well to win and, lately, our defense has been breaking down much too often.

The Ags are in first place all by themselves after Long Beach beats Irvine 72-63 handing the Anteaters their 3rd loss in a row.

The Aggies escape from Santa Barbara with a 67-64 heart-stopping win. The game was a chess match in the last 2 minutes between Coach Les and Coach Williams but the Ags made their FT's and barely escaped when the Gauchos' half court shot nearly banked in at the buzzer.

The Aggies struggle to a 32-26 lead at the half over the severely decimated Gauchos. Coach Les was so upset with the way the Aggies started the game with lazy passes and TO's that he pulled 3 starters from the game. They all sat for 5-10 minutes and Moneke remained benched. He only had 7 minutes of PT in the half. Siler Schneider led the Ags with 12 points.

The Aggies complete the road sweep with a 62-48 win. Although they were cold as ice from 3 they made up for it with good defense and great post play. Morgan Bertsch was magnificent and led the Ags with 27 points on 11 of 14 shooting and Marly Anderson came off the bench to score 14 points.

Both teams struggled to make 3's and they both shot a miserable 2-16 for 12.5% which was well below their season averages. But, the Aggies had two more weapons in their arsenal in Bertsch and Anderson and that made the difference.

The Ags have shown that they can win in a variety of ways and, when they put it all together as a team, they are a very, very good team. With only one senior on the team and an excellent trio of recruits coming in, the future is looking very good for the Ags.

Go Ags!

The Ags are up 46-37 after 3 quarters. Morgan Bertsch and Marley Anderson have combined for 33 points.

The Ags are getting it done on the defensive end and lead the Gauchos 30-20 at the half. Morgan Bertsch led the Ags with 11 points. Neither team is shooting the ball very well. The Aggies shot 37% but are only 2 0f 10 from 3. The Ags held the Gauchos to 27% overall and 1 of 8 from 3.

I heard that too. Boy, when it rains, it pours!

Nice to see him get another shot at coaching. He'll be a good fit for Dartmouth.

I agree, PA, that's a nice looking arena.

The Ags came back and made a game of it late, and actually took the lead at 63-62, but Poly made the plays at crunch time and got a well deserved win. This game was practically a tie in every statistical category except one: 3 point shooting. Both teams were 25 of 55 overall but the Mustangs were 9-24 from 3 and the Ags were only 4 of 12.

To the casual fan, it was a hard fought game by both teams. To Coach Les it was a disappointing loss and I agree. Why? Because the Aggies are forming a habit of starting games slow and sluggish and getting themselves down big early. It happened at Riverside and CSUN, then at home against Irvine and now again on the road at Poly. Sure we managed to win 2 of those 4 but the trend is troubling. Sometimes the shots just are not going to fall but good energy and focus need to be there all the time no matter what.

Poly got a lot more help from their bench outscoring us 25-4. Mikey Henn was dressed but didn't play so I assume he may be under the weather or knicked up. Poly's guards, Victor Joseph and Donovan Fields, beat us off the dribble time and time again. We had no answer for their quickness and athletic drives to the basket. They combined for 34 points and made some critical 3's down the stretch. They both play with great confidence and were almost daring the Ags to try and defend them too closely. When we did, they blew by our guards and finished with athletic lay ups. They also have the ability to pull up and knock down contested 3's with only a little opening.

Chima Moneke was single-handedly keeping us within reach for much of the game and finished with yet another double-double with 25 points and 13 rebounds. Brynton Lemar came on in the second half and added 18.

The Ags need to regroup and and play UCSB with intensity from the get go on Saturday.

I like your confidence CF. The Achilles heel of this team has been their highly inconsistent offense and you never know how it's going to go. We don't have the lights out 3 point shooters this year that Les often builds his teams around.

I hope you're right and we pull it together in the second half and put this one in the W column.

Poly leads the Ags 32-28 at the half. The Aggies started off the game ice cold and out of sync on offense shooting just 22% in the first 11 minutes and scoring only 7 points. Chima has kept us in the game with 14 of the Ags 28 points.

Garrison Goode is back in uniform after being out for a couple of weeks with an abdominal strain.

The Aggies hang on and escape with a 61-53 win over Poly. This was a 4 point game with 20 seconds to go before the Ags hit some FT's to make it an 8 point margin. Morgan Bertsch led the Ags with 20 followed by Pele Gianotti with 13 and Rachel Nagel had 12.

For the second game in a row the Ags managed to find a way to win when they did not play their best. As it was in their last win over Fullerton, the Aggie defense made the difference as the Ags held the Mustangs to 34% shooting and forced 23 TO's. But, the Ags continued their season long struggle on the boards and were out rebounded 46-37 including giving up 14 offensive rebounds.

Poly's defense kept the Ags off balance the whole game limiting the Aggies to 38% from the field. The Ags also struggled from the FT line at 65%.

The Ags will need to play much better at UCSB on Saturday to bring home a road sweep.

Go Ags!

46-37 Aggies at the end of the 3rd quarter.

32-24 Aggies at the half. The Ags were not sharp in their last game and the trend has continued in the first half against Poly. It was primarily the Aggies defense that has kept them in the lead. On the offensive end, Gianotti leads the Ags with 11 on 5 of 7 shooting. Both teams have been careless with the basketball and have 10 TO's each.

The Aggies lead 16-11 after the first quarter in a ragged ball game by both teams so far.

The area where the concessions are also has a large area set aside now for Team Aggie members with tall tables, snacks, wine and beer. There is a concerted effort going on to cater more to the donors and it looks to be paying off. That area was full during halftime and between games of the double header. Sudwerks also has it's small operation in that area too selling pizza and beer.

Winning is the key. If the men and women's teams continue to win and compete at the top of the Big West there will be more fans in the seats and more Team Aggie members opening their wallets. That, in turn, will drive improvements in the Pavilion that enhance the fan experience.

BTW, the attendance record is 7926 and was set on January 23, 1999, against Chico State on the annual Break the Record Night. The Aggies won the game 102-71 and the place was rocking. The rivalry with Chico State was a good one in all sports during the D2 era and there was no love loss between the two schools.