Dec. 6, 2008

Box Score

Stockton, Calif. - Tied 64-64 with just 1.6 seconds to go in the contest, the Pacific's men's basketball team was downed by a last second layup to fall 66-64 to Fresno State on Saturday, December 6. The loss dropped the Tigers to 3-3 on the year while the Bulldogs improved to 3-4 overall.

The Tigers fell behind early, as the Bulldogs got off to a 9-2 start behind five points from Paul George. With Fresno State leading 12-5, the Tigers went on an 11-2 run keyed by five points from junior Lavar Neufville (Fairfield, Calif.) and four points from senior Chad Troyer (Seattle, Wash.) to take a 16-14 lead with 13:14 left in the half. After the teams battled to a 22-22 tie with 8:11 left, the Tigers were able to pull ahead by a score of 35-28 over the next five and a half minutes. Fresno State finished the half on a 4-0 run to make the score 35-32 in favor of the Tigers at the break.

Sylvester Seay scored four quick points to start the second half giving the Bulldogs a 36-35 lead just a minute into the half. Troyer then hit a pair of three-pointers over the next three minutes as the Tigers used an 11-2 run to take a 46-38 lead with 15:40 remaining in the game. Pacific maintained the lead at 55-47 with 9:30 left, but a quick 5-0 stretch cut the Tiger lead back to three (55-52) with 8:20 remaining. A three-point play by sophomore Sam Willard (Pierre, S.D.) pushed the Tigers' lead back to six (60-54) with six minutes left, but the Bulldogs struck back with an 8-0 run over the next two and a half minutes to take a 62-60 after five points from Mychal Ladd and another three-pointer by George. Neither team scored over the next two minutes before senior Bryan LeDuc (Corona, Calif.) hit a pair of free throws to even the game again at 62-62. After a pair of free throws gave Fresno State a 64-62 lead, junior Joe Ford (Altadena, Calif.) scored on a driving lay-in to tie score once again at 64-64. Fresno State held the ball for the final :23 seconds, and after Willard tipped a baseline pass out of bounds, the Bulldogs got the ball to Dwight O'Neil who hit the game-winner with just over a second left. The Tigers got off a final shot, but it was well short.

Willard led the Tigers with a career-high 14 points, scoring 11 in the first half. Troyer added 12 and Ford had 10. Senior Anthony Brown (Sacramento, Calif.) had seven points for the Tigers, to become the 25th player in Pacific history to score 1,000 points.

George led the Bulldogs with 23 points.

The Tigers are next in action with a home game against USF on Tuesday, December 6. Tipoff is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. at the Alex G. Spanos Center.