Jan. 9, 2006

Box Score

Stockton, Calif. - The Pacific Tigers men's basketball team defeated Cal State Fullerton, 83-74, on Monday, Jan. 9. With the win the Tigers moved to 10-5 on the season and 1-1 in the Big West Conference. Cal State Fullerton, meanwhile, fell to 8-5 overall and 2-2 in conference play.

Pacific took an early 11-2 lead in the game, but the Titans battled back tie the game at 15-15 at the midpoint of the first half. It was then a back and forth battle the rest of the first half, with Bobby Brown scoring seven of his 18 first half points in the final 3:54 of the first half to stake the Titans to a 41-39 halftime lead. It was a showdown of two of the top three scorers in the Big West, as Tiger senior Christian Maraker (Varberg, Sweden) nearly matched Brown with 16 first half points of his own.

The Titans took their largest lead of the game, 55-49, with 13 minutes left in the game. Over the next six minutes the Tigers used a 15-5 run to take a 64-59 lead, but another Cal State Fullerton 7-2 run tied the game at 66-66 with 5:11 remaining. The Tigers then used a 12-0 run to take a 78-66 lead with 1:11 left, as the Titans were 0-7 from the field in that stretch. The Tigers hit 11 of 12 free throws in the last 2:34 of the game to seal the victory.

Maraker led all players with 26 points and 14 rebounds, while senior Johnny Gray (Agoura Hills, Calif.) had 21 points and seven assists. Junior Michael White (Capitola, Calif.) added 12 points in 19 minutes.

The Titans were led by Brown's 22 points, while Jermaine Harper added 19 points.

Both teams shot over 50 percent from the field in the first half, and under 40 percent in the second half. Pacific out-rebounded the Titans 41-31, including a 28-18 advantage in the second half.

The Tigers will be back in action on Friday, January 13 as the Tigers travel to Long Beach State to take on the 49ers at 7:35 p.m.