Jan. 2, 2009

Box Score

Northridge, Calif. - Senior Michael Kirby (North Highlands, Calif) had career highs with 14 points and eight assists as the Pacific men's basketball team defeated Cal State Northridge 84-78 in overtime on Friday, January 2 in Northridge, Calif in the Tigers' Big West Conference opener. The Tigers improve to 8-4 and 1-0 in league play with the victory, while the Matadors fall to 4-8 and 1-1.

The Tigers trailed most of the first half, as Cal State Northridge led by as many as eight in the first half. Pacific committed 10 turnovers in the first half, resulting in a 12-1 advantage on points off of turnovers. An early 7-5 lead for the Tigers was erased on a 6-0 run to give the Matadors an 11-7 lead with 14:52 remaining and Cal State Northridge did not trail the rest of the half. Late in the half, after the Matadors took a 33-25 lead with 6:04 remaining, the Tigers outscored CSUN 12-6 including seven points from senior Anthony Brown (Sacramento, Calif.) to cut the lead to 39-37 with 1:31 left in the half.

Pacific opened the second half with an 8-0 run keyed by four more points by Brown over the first four minutes of the second half to take a 45-43 with 15:57 left in the contest. The Matadors answered back with a basket by Jerome Jenkins to tie things up at 45-45, one of six ties in the second half. After breaking a 50-50 tie with a three-pointer by junior Casey Neimeyer (Woodland, Calif.) and a jumper by sophomore Sam Willard (Pierre, S.D.) to take a five point advantage. The Matadors answered back again with five straight points from Tremaine Townsend to even the game at 55-55 with 9:38 remaining. The Tigers then got a pair of three-pointers from senior Bryan LeDuc (Corona, Calif.) as part of a 9-2 run to take a 64-57 lead with 6:44 left. Pacific scored just four points the rest of the game, and were held scoreless over the final four minutes as the Matadors rallied late.Deon Tresvant hit a three-pointer with :37 seconds left to tie the score at 68-68, followed by the Tigers holding for the final shot and missing a layup at the end of the shot clock to send the game to overtime at 68-68.

In the opening moments of the overtime period, sophomore Terrell Smith scored on a layup to give the Tigers a 70-68 lead and Pacific would not relinquish the lead again. Senior Chad Troyer's (Seattle, Wash.) only three-pointer of the game gave the Tigers a 76-72 lead with 2:02 left in overtime, but Tresvant answered on the other end with a three of his own. Kirby then scored the next five points for the Tigers, getting a layup and a three-pointer at the end of the shot clock to take an 81-75 lead with :33 seconds left. Another three-pointer from Tresvant made it 81-78 with :16 seconds remaining. Kirby was fouled in the back court on the inbounds pass and calmly hit two free throws to give the Tigers a five point lead (83-78). Tresvant missed on the next trip and the junior Lavar Neufville (Fairfield, Calif.) hit 1-of-2 free throws to seal the victory.

Brown led the Tigers with 17 points and nine rebounds. Senior James Doran (Cameron Park, Calif.) and LeDuc each added 10 points. The Tigers had just four turnovers in the final 25 minutes of the game. The Tigers hit 5-of-6 shots in overtime, en route to a 51.7% mark for the game from the field.

The Tigers are next in action on Thursday, January 8 with a home game against Long Beach State. The tip is set for 7:00 p.m. at the Alex G. Spanos Center.