Dec. 18, 2009

Box Score

Moraga, Calif. - The Pacific men's basketball team dropped an 80-65 win decision at Saint Mary's on Friday, December 18. With the loss Pacific dropped to 7-3 overall while the Gaels improved to 9-1 on the year.

The Tigers started the scoring with a layup from senior Joe Ford (Altadena, Calif.) and a jumper from junior Sam Willard (Pierre, S.D.) to take an early 4-0 lead. With an 11-5 run, the Gaels took an 11-9 lead with 13:39 to play in the first half. Pacific pulled ahead 30-29 after a layup by Willard and a jumper by senior Lavar Neufville (Fairfield, Calif.) with 3:47 to go in the half. Saint Mary's then outscored the Tigers 11-5 over the next two minutes to take its largest lead of the half (40-35). The Tigers and Gaels traded baskets throughout the half as Saint Mary's shot 62.1 percent and Pacific shot 53.3 percent from the field. The Gaels hit seven of eight three-point attempts in the first half.

Pacific cut the Gaels' lead to one a few times in the second half, and had a couple of opportunities to regain the lead. After a 7-3 spurt brought the Tigers to within 52-51 with 12:51 to play, the Gaels used an 11-2 run to take a 63-53 lead. Four straight free throws from senior Michael Nunnally (Stockton, Calif.) cut the Gaels' lead to four (64-60) with 6:43 to play. Saint Mary's was able to extend the lead back to 10 after another 8-2 run and pulled away with free throws at the end of the game.

Willard led the Tigers with 18 points, while Ford added a career-high 14 points. Ford also led the Tigers with eight rebounds. Omar Samhan led the Gaels with 28 points, and scored the first 11 points of the second half for Saint Mary's.

The Tigers are next in action with a game at Santa Clara on Monday, December 21. Game time is 7:00 p.m. at the Leavey Center.