Feb. 14, 2009
Box Score
Stockton, Calif. - The Pacific men's basketball team toppled UC Irvine, 65-55, to give head coach Bob Thomason his 206th career league victory with the Tigers on Saturday, Feb. 14. The win makes Thomason the Big West's winningest coach in league games.
With the win, the Tigers improved to 14-9 overall and 7-5 in the Big West, as the Anteaters fell to 8-17 overall and 5-7 in conference action.
The Tigers fell behind early 6-0, then after tying it at 6-6 on three-pointers from senior Chad Troyer (Seattle, Wash.) and sophomore Terrell Smith (Federal Way, Wash.), the Anteaters took another six point lead at 14-8 with 15:22 left to play in the half. Neither team scored for the next five minutes, but over a span that extended to almost 10 minutes, the Tigers outscored the Anteaters 14-2 to pull ahead 22-16 with 5:37 remaining. Three points by the Anteaters made the score 22-19 before senior James Doran (Cameron Park, Calif.) made a pair of baskets to give the Tigers a 26-19 lead. A three-pointer by Brett Lauer cut Pacific's lead to 26-22 at the break.
UC Irvine's run extended to 6-0 when Michael Hunter hit a three-pointer to open the second half and cut the Tiger lead to 26-25. Pacific got five points from Troyer in a 7-3 stretch to make it 33-28 with 16:13 to play in the game. A three-pointer by UC Irvine's Patrick Rembert cut it to 40-37, but the Tigers pushed back with a basket by sophomore Sam Willard (Pierre, S.D.) and a three-pointer from senior Bryan LeDuc to take a 45-37 lead with 11:04 to play. After a three from UC Irvine's Derrick Strings, the Tigers again scored five straight, this time on a layup from LeDuc and a three-pointer by Smith to gain a 10 point advantage (52-42) with 7:24 to play. The Anteaters made another surge, scoring three baskets to cut the Tiger lead to 56-52 with just 3:23 to go. LeDuc hit a pair of big free throws on Pacific's next possession, as the Tigers would extend the lead down the stretch with free throws and a pair of layups by senior Michael Kirby (North Highlands, Calif.) to get the double-digit victory.
Troyer led the Tigers with 15 points, while LeDuc added 12 and Doran had 11. All three players came off the bench for Pacific, contributing to a 42-10 bench scoring advantage for the Tigers. A 52.2 percent clip from the field was helped by 65.5 percent (13-of-20) shooting in the second half. Willard led the Tigers with 10 rebounds, helping the Tigers to a 38-24 rebounding advantage.
Pacific next returns to action Wednesday, Feb. 18, when the Tigers visit UC Santa Barbara. Tip-off is slated for 7 p.m.
