Nov. 25, 2009

Box Score

Stockton, Calif. - Continuing their hot start to the 2009-10 season, the Pacific men's basketball team downed San Diego State, 71-63, on Wednesday, November 25, in front of 2,705 fans at the Alex G. Spanos Center. The win kept the Tigers perfect on the season at 4-0 while the Aztecs fell to 3-2.

The Tigers opened up an 8-3 lead over the first three minutes, getting four early points from senior Michael Nunnally (Stockton, Calif.). The Aztecs struck back with five straight points from Billy White, to even it up at 8-8 with 14:00 left in the half. Pacific again pulled ahead, taking a 17-13 lead after a pair of free throws from freshman Allen Huddleston (Merced, Calif.). With a 21-17 Tiger lead, the Aztecs outscored Pacific 8-1 to take a 22-21 lead with 5:51 remaining in the half. After a three-pointer from Huddleston, the Aztecs took the lead back at 28-27 with a trey from Tyrone Shelley. Pacific then used a 13-0 run to take a 40-28 with 1:32 to go, en route to a 42-29 lead at the break.

The teams played even through the first seven minutes of the second half, with the Aztecs clawing for six offensive rebounds on their first six misses of the final 20 minutes. SDSU whittled the Tigers' lead to four (52-48) with a 10-1 run at the 8:38 mark of the half. Pacific pushed the lead back to 10 with a 6-0 run over the next two minutes. The Aztecs made their biggest push of the half from there, outscoring the Tigers 10-3 to make it 61-58 with 4:29 to play. Pacific scored on a reverse dunk by junior Terrell Smith (Federal Way, Wash.) on the next possession and added layups from junior Nyika Williams (Kingstown, St. Vincent and the Grenadines) and senior Lavar Neufville (Fairfield, Calif.) to take the lead back to 67-58 with 2:31 remaining in the game. Strong defense by the Tigers held the Aztecs to just five points over the final 4:29 of the game to earn the 71-63 victory.

Smith led the Tigers with 16 points, including six points in the last 5:18. Williams added a career-high 12 points and making all four free throws. Huddleston also posted a career-high with 10 points, all in the first half. He also was perfect from the line (4-4), as the Tigers shot a season-best 73.9 percent from the stripe. Pacific's bench outscored the Aztecs' 27-8. White finished with a game-high 20 points for San Diego State.

The Tigers are now 2-0 in the West Coast Classic, taking a break from the tournament to face San Jose State in a road contest on Saturday, November 28. The game is scheduled for a 1:00 p.m. tip.