Dec. 15, 2007

Box Score

STOCKTON, Calif. - Four Tigers reached double figures in scoring as the Pacific men's basketball team defeated Montana in overtime, 76-71, on Saturday, Dec. 15, at the Alex G. Spanos Center.

With the win, Pacific improved to 8-3 on the season. Montana dropped to 5-5 with the loss.

With the game knotted 63-63 at the end of regulation, junior Anthony Brown (Sacramento, Calif.) scored five of his team-high 16 points in the extra stanza to lead the Tigers to their first overtime victory of 2007-08.

The first half saw seven ties and six lead changes as the squads were deadlocked, 28-28, heading into the intermission.

Pacific scored the first five points of the second period to build a 33-28 lead, but Montana quickly rallied to tie the score at 33-33 less than a minute later.

The Grizzlies built the largest lead of the game for either team at 45-38 with 14:25 remaining in regulation. Pacific battled back to tie the game once again with a 9-2 run over the next 3:02, including four of junior Michael Kirby's (North Highlands, Calif.) career-high 12 points.

Trailing 61-60 with 1:07 left in regulation, Montana guard Ryan Staudacher buried a three-pointer to give the Grizzlies a 63-61 edge. Junior Michael Nunnally (Stockton, Calif.) then sunk a 12-foot jumper from the baseline, and the Tigers forced an errant Jordan Hasquet jumper at the buzzer to send the game to overtime.

Brown had a game-high eight rebounds to go along with his 16 points for Pacific. Nunnally added a career-high 15 points, while junior Steffan Johnson (Kent, Wash.) had 11 points and six assists. Kirby contributed five rebounds and four assists to go along with his career-high 12 points.

Hasquet led all scorers with 28 points on 10-of-21 shooting for Montana. Andrew Strait and Matt Martin were also in double figures for the Grizzlies with 12 and 10 points, respectively.

As a team, Pacific registered 16 assists while committing a season-low 10 turnovers.

Pacific is next in action with a non-conference contest at Fresno State on Saturday, Dec. 22, at 7 p.m.