Nov. 15, 2008
Box Score
Berkeley, Calif. - The Pacific men's basketball team opened the 2008-09 regular season with a 68-56 loss to California on Saturday, Nov. 15.
The loss dropped the Tigers to 0-1 on the season, while California moved to 1-0.
The Tigers stumbled out of the gate, falling behind 11-3 before the first timeout. Pacific, however, refused to wilt under the pressure of the Pac-10 opponent, rallying to score nine of the next 11 points and cut the deficit to one point at 13-12. Junior Joe Ford (Altadena, Calif.) got things rolling for Pacific with a layup from sophomore Sam Willard (Pierre, S.D.). Following two free throws by the Bears, Ford returned the favor by finding Willard underneath for an easy two. Moments later, Ford nailed a 12-footer, then senior Chad Troyer (Seattle, Wash.) nailed a three-pointer at the 13:04 mark to make it 13-12.
Unfortunately the Tigers struggled from the field the rest of the half, shooting just 29.6 percent from the field as California outscored Pacific, 23-8 over the last 13 minutes. Pacific went into the locker room down 36-20 at the break.
After Pacific fell behind by 19 at 39-20, the Tigers went on a 7-0 run to cut the lead to 12. Willard got things rolling again on a short jumper from Troyer. The ensuing time down the court, Troyer drained another trifecta, then senior Anthony Brown (Sacramento, Calif.) flipped in a layup to make it 39-27 with 17:06 remaining
The deficit was still 12 points at 51-39 with 8:49 left in the game. Over the next 90 seconds, the Tigers closed the gap to its smallest margin of the half. Brown converted three consecutive short jumpers for the Tigers to make it a six point game at 51-45 with 7:02 left.
California, however, kept the Tigers at bay down the stretch outscoring Pacific 17-11 to earn the 68-56 win.
Senior James Doran (Cameron Park, Calif.) and junior Lavar Neufville (Fairfield, Calif.) led Pacific with 10 points in the loss, while Brown finished with nine points and a team-high seven rebounds.
California's Jerome Randle posted a game-high 24 points for the Golden Bears.
The Tigers return to action on Wednesday, Oct. 19 as Pacific hosts UC San Diego at 7 p.m. in its home opener at the Alex G. Spanos Center.
