Feb. 7, 2009
Box Score
Long Beach, Calif. - The Pacific men's basketball team came up just short on Saturday, Feb. 7, falling to Long Beach State, 81-80, in double overtime.
The loss drops Pacific to 12-9 on the season and 5-5 in the Big West Conference. Long Beach State, meanwhile, moved to 12-10 overall and 7-3 in conference play.
Pacific fell behind 6-1 in the early going, on the way to 17-7 49er lead with 12:30 left. Senior Michael Kirby (North Highlands, Calif.) was the only Tiger to score a field goal in that stretch, hitting a pair of three-pointers. Pacific cut the lead back to four (17-13) with 10:33 left, after a three-point play by junior Lavar Neufville (Fairfield, Calif.) and a three-pointer by James Doran (Cameron Park, Calif.). After the 49ers bounced back out to a 23-15 lead, Pacific came back with a 7-0 run to cut the lead to 23-22 with 5:52 remaining. Long Beach State again took an eight point lead, but the Tigers got a 5-0 run from senior Bryan LeDuc (Corona, Calif.) over the final two minutes to cut the lead to 32-29 at the break.
An 8-2 Tiger run provided the team's first lead of the game at 37-34 with 16:16 to play. A quick 4-0 49er spurt switched the lead again, prompting another Pacific 8-2 run as the Tigers took their largest lead of the game at 45-40 with 12:38 remaining. A 9-2 surge by the 49ers gave them a 49-47 with 8:53 left before a layup by sophomore Terrell Smith (Federal Way, Wash.) knotted it up again. A three-pointer by Kirby and a layup by LeDuc sparked a 5-1 spurt as the Tigers pulled ahead by four (63-59) with 2:59 to go. A 6-0 run by the 49ers gave Long Beach State a 65-63 lead with 1:47 remaining, before senior Anthony Brown (Sacramento, Calif.) scored on a jump hook in the lane to tie it up at 65-65 with 1:21 left in regulation. Neither team scored in the final minute as Long Beach State's Stephan Gilling missed a shot at the end of the game to send it into overtime.
Tiger senior Chad Troyer (Seattle, Wash.) hit a three-pointer to open overtime and give Pacific a 68-65 lead. A three point play by Larry Anderson capped a 6-0 run as the 49ers took a 71-68 lead with 1:53 to go in the first overtime. A pair of free throws by Smith and a layup by Brown put the Tigers back ahead 72-71, but Gilling hit a three-pointer with :28 seconds to play and give LBSU a 74-72 advantage. Brown scored again in the post with just :13 seconds left and the 49ers' Casper Ware missed a long jumper to send the game to double overtime.
After falling behind on a three-pointer by Larry Anderson, Smith gave the Tigers an 80-77 advantage with a pair three-point plays to cap his career night with 18 points. Ware hit a pair of free throws with 1:12 to play and again hit a pair from the line with :14 seconds to play to give the 49ers an 81-80 lead. Kirby had a three-point attempt on the right wing as time expired that bounced out.
Among the five Tigers scoring in double figures, LeDuc had 13, Kirby scored 12, while Brown and Troyer each had 11 tallies.
The game featured 12 ties and 16 lead changes. The Tigers shot 39.3 percent in the first half, but hit 57.5 percent in the second half and overtime. Long Beach won the rebounding battle 39-26, including 14 offensive boards.
The Tigers return home to face Cal State Fullerton on Thursday, Feb. 12 at 7 p.m. in the Alex G. Spanos Center.
