Nov. 13, 2009

Final Stats

Malibu, Calif. - The Pacific men's basketball team defeated Pepperdine 67-64 in double overtime on Friday, Nov. 13 in Malibu, Calif. The Tigers open the season 1-0, while the Waves start out 0-1.

The Tigers had a 9-4 start in the game, getting four points from junior Terrell Smith (Federal Way, Wash.) and senior Joe Ford (Altadena, Calif.) scored three points in the opening four minutes. After extending the lead to 15-8 with 11:47 to play in the half, Pepperdine closed the gap with a 9-3 run over the next seven minutes to make the score 18-17 with 4:06 to go. A 6-0 run took the Tigers' lead back to six (23-17) with two minutes to go as the Pacific held a 25-20 lead at the break.

An 8-2 run opened the second half for Pacific, with senior Lavar Neufville (Fairfield, Calif.) scoring four points to give the Tigers a 35-22 lead with 15:23 to play in the game. As Pepperdine made runs at Pacific in the second half, the Tigers continued to answer, holding a 53-43 lead with 4:21 to play. From there the Tigers scored just two points the rest of the way, as the Waves used a 12-2 run to even the score at 55-55 at the end of regulation.

In the first overtime, Pepperdine took a 57-55 lead after a free throw by Keion Bell with 3:37 left. It was the Waves' first lead of the game. A tip-in by junior Pat Eveland (San Diego, Calif.) evened the score at 57-57 just 20 seconds later. A three-point play by senior Michael Nunnally (Stockton, Calif.) gave the Tigers a 60-57 lead with 1:05 to play. On the next possession Pepperdine's Dane Suttle, Jr. hit a three-pointer to even things up again at 60-60. Each team missed a shot in the final :50 seconds, with Pepperdine's Mychel Thompson missing a 16-footer at the buzzer.

The Waves pulled ahead at the start of the second overtime, before two free throws by Eveland evened it again at 62-62 with 3:40 to play. Both teams were scoreless for two minutes before Pepperdine took a 64-62 lead on a jumper by Gus Clardy. Eveland answered again on the other end with a layup to tie the game at 64-64 and a layup by Neufville with :27 seconds left made it 66-64. After a miss by Pepperdine, Neufville collected the rebound and made one of two free throws to give the Tigers a three-point advantage. On the defensive end, the Tigers had their biggest stand of the night, as the Waves were unable to get a shot off in the final :11 seconds.

Smith led the Tigers with 14 points and grabbed seven rebounds. Junior Sam Willard (Pierre, S.D.) had 13 points and boards, while Ford added 11 points and three steals. Nunnally had eight points and led the team with nine rebounds. Neufville led the Tigers with five assists and scored nine points.

The Tigers shot just 11 percent (2-19) from three-point range and 43 percent (9-21) from the free throw line, but hit 57 percent (26-46) of shots from inside the arc. The Tigers took advantage of 16 Pepperdine turnovers, outscoring the Waves 18-8 in points off of turnovers.

The Tigers are next in action on Monday, Nov. 16 with a home game against San Diego. Game time is 7:00 p.m. in the Spanos Center.