Feb. 7, 2008

Box Score

Stockton, Calif. - Junior Michael Kirby's (North Highlands, Calif.) first two points of the game came at the perfect time as he nailed a jumper as time expired in regulation sending the Pacific men's basketball team to a 78-73 overtime win against Cal State Northridge on Thursday, Feb. 7.

Kirby's shot was set up after the Matadors' Jonathan Heard missed two free throws. The Tigers secured the rebound after the second miss and called timeout. After a second timeout, Tiger junior Casey Neimeyer (Woodland, Calif.) threw a length of the court pass that was tipped by junior Chad Troyer (Seattle, Wash.) to Kirby who tossed in the game-tying 18-footer.

The Tigers built a 14-point lead in the first half, using a 19-6 run to take a 38-24 lead with 7:02 remaining. The Matadors came back late in the first half, cutting the Tigers' lead to 46-38 at halftime. Troyer led the Tigers with 22 points in the first half, hitting four three-pointers.

Pacific started out the second half with another three-pointer from Troyer, and was able to build the lead back to 11 (51-40) with 17:21 left in the game. The Matadors then went on a 15-2 run to take a 55-53 lead with 10:29 left, sparked by five points from Jayme Miller. From that point it was like a tug of war, as there were 16 lead changes in regulation, including seven in the final 10 minutes. The 10th tie came on Kirby's shot at the end of the first 40 minutes. The Tigers found themselves down 66-62 with 3:50 left in the game after a layup by Heard, but scored on layups from juniors Steffan Johnson (Kent, Wash.) and Anthony Brown (Sacramento, Calif.) to even the game at 66-66. The Tigers and Matadors each hit a free throw and then Josh Jenkins scored on a layup with 1:02 remaining to set up the Kirby game-tying shot.

Junior Michael Nunnally (Stockton, Calif.) scored in the paint just 10 seconds into the overtime period, to give the Tigers a 71-69 lead. The teams would not score again until Jenkins hit a free throw with 2:04 left to cut the Tiger lead to 71-70. After Troyer hit two free throws, Deon Tresvant hit a game-tying three-pointer to knot the game at 73-73. A free throw from junior Bryan LeDuc gave the Tigers a 74-73 lead with :52 seconds left. After the Tigers rebounded a missed three-point attempt, Kirby was fouled and hit two free throws to give Pacific a 76-73 lead. Another defensive stop and rebound gave Kirby two more free throws, which he hit to seal the victory.

Troyer led the Tigers with a career-high 30 points, while Johnson added 13 points and six assists. Brown scored 11 points and pulled down a career-high 19 rebounds, notching his seventh double-double of the season.

Pacific shot just 39.0% for the game, including 10-of-33 in the second half and overtime. The Tigers out-rebounded the Matadors 44-35, including 12-6 on the offensive glass.

The Tigers are next in action with a home game against Long Beach State on Saturday, Feb. 9 at 7:00 p.m. in the Spanos Center.