Feb. 26, 2007

Box Score

STOCKTON, Calif. - The Pacific men's basketball team closed out its 2006-07 home schedule with an 82-76 Big West Conference loss to Long Beach State on Monday, Feb. 26, at the Alex G. Spanos Center.

With the loss, the Tigers dropped to 11-16 overall and 5-7 in Big West Conference action. Long Beach State improved to 20-7 overall (10-2 Big West) and clinched the conference's regular season crown.

On senior night at the Alex G. Spanos Center, senior Michael White (Capitola, Calif.) led Pacific with a career-high 26 points and game-high 11 rebounds for his first career double-double.

After six ties in the first half, the 49ers used an 8-1 run to take a 25-18 lead on a three-pointer by Kejuan Johnson. Long Beach State held a 39-32 edge at halftime on a banked in three-pointer by Aaron Nixon at the buzzer of the first half.

In the second half, Long Beach State used an 11-2 run to take a 54-41 lead with 14:15 left in the game. Sterling Byrd had five points while Nixon added consecutive three-pointers in the run. Down 12 with 10:18 remaining in the game, the Tigers slowly edged back into the game. Behind eight points from White, Pacific used a 20-10 run over the next eight minutes to cut Long Beach State's lead to 72-70 with just 2:10 left. Two free throws by Nixon took the lead back to four (74-70) and the Tigers missed two free throws on their next possession. Byrd hit a three-pointer on the other end to take the lead back to seven for the 49ers and Pacific would not get closer than four the rest of the way.

Nixon led all scorers with 32 points. Senior Reggie Vezia (Vacaville, Calif.) scored 12 for the Tigers, the only other Tiger in double figures.

The Tigers hit just 10-of-21 free throws (47.6%), while the 49ers were 18-of-22 (81.8%). The Tigers held a 36-32 edge in rebounding, including a season-best tying 19 on the offensive end.

Pacific is next in action at UC Santa Barbara on Mar. 1. Game time is 7:00 p.m.