Feb. 12, 2009

Box Score

Stockton, Calif. - Led by 14 points from senior Michael Kirby (North Highlands, Calif.) and 13 from sophomore Sam Willard (Pierre, S.D.) the Pacific men's basketball team defeated Cal State Fullerton, 70-51, on Thursday, Feb. 12.

The win moved the Tigers to 13-9 overall and 6-5 in Big West Conference play. Cal State Fullerton, meanwhile, dropped to 12-12 on the season and 6-6 in conference play.

The Tigers scored the first basket and never trailed in the game. A 9-2 run featuring six points from sophomore Terrell Smith (Federal Way, Wash.) gave the Tigers a 13-6 advantage with 12:34 left in the first half. After the Titans cut the lead to 15-10, Pacific got a pair of three-pointers from junior Lavar Neufville (Fairfield, Calif.) and senior Bryan LeDuc (Corona, Calif.) to take a 21-10 lead with 10:34 left. A 6-2 spurt by the Titans made it 23-16, then the Tigers went on an 11-0 run sparked by a pair of treys by Kirby to take a 34-16 advantage and held a 37-22 halftime lead.

Pacific scored the first seven points of the second half as junior Joe Ford (Altadena, Calif.) scored four to extended the lead to a game-best 22 points (44-22) with 17:55 to play. Over the next 10 minutes, the Titans outscored the Tigers 22-12 to make it 56-44 with 7:53 to play. Pacific responded with a 10-3 run capped by a three-point play by Willard to take the lead back to 66-47 with 3:31 to play. The lead stayed at 16 or better the rest of the way as the Tigers cruised to the victory.

Kirby led the Tigers with 14 points, while Willard added 13 points and a game-high nine rebounds. The Tigers hit 14-of-17 free throws in the second half (82.4 percent), while shooting 77.8 percent for the game.

Pacific held Josh Akognon, the Big West's leading scorer at 23.5 points per game, to just 11 points on 4-of-14 shooting from the field.

The Tigers return to the court on Saturday, Feb. 14 as Pacific hosts UC Irvine at 7 p.m. in the Alex G. Spanos Center.