Dec. 1, 2009

Box Score

Fresno, Calif. - The Pacific men's basketball team earned a 70-58 win at Fresno State on Tuesday, December 1. With the victory the Tigers earned the championship of the West Coast Classic, finishing the tournament 3-0. The Tigers improved to 5-1 on the season, while the Bulldogs fell to 2-4.

Junior Sam Willard (Pierre, S.D.) helped the Tigers to a 12-1 start out of the gate with six early points. Defensively, Pacific held Fresno State to an 0-5 start from the field. A quick 4-0 spurt by the Tigers made it a 14 point tiger lead (22-8) with 11:49 to go in the half. The Bulldogs then outscored the Tigers 20-7 over the next six minutes to cut Pacific's lead to 26-25 at the 6:26 mark. Over the final six minutes of the first half, the Tigers gradually built the lead back up to 12 at the break by outscoring Fresno State 15-4.

Although the Tigers did not score for the first four and a half minutes of the second half, they held the Bulldogs to just two points in the same stretch. Freshman Allen Huddleston (Merced, Calif.) hit a pair of free throws to break the scoreless stretch and take the lead back to 12 (46-34) with 15:42 to play. Over the next three minutes, Fresno State cut Pacific's lead to seven (47-40) after a 6-1 run. A 10-2 run, keyed by a pair of three-pointers by junior Pat Eveland (San Diego, Calif.) and a pair of baskets by junior Terrell Smith (Federal Way, Wash.) took the Tiger lead back to 15 (57-42). Pacific's lead would not fall below 10 the rest of the way.

Junior Demetrece Young (Oklahoma City, Okla.) scored a career-high 18 points in his first start for the Tigers. Eveland hit five of his last six three-point attempts to finish with a career-best 17 points. Smith added 10 points and a team-best five assists. The Tigers hit a season-best 10 three-pointers in the victory. It was Pacific's biggest win in Fresno since a 70-49 victory on December 19, 1992. Fresno State was led by Sylvester Seay's 23 points.

The Tigers are next in action with a home game on Saturday, December 5 against Nevada. Game is set for 7:00 p.m.in the Spanos Center.