March 12, 2009

Box Score

Anaheim, Calif. - The Pacific men's basketball team held on for a 67-60 win over UC Davis in the quarterfinals of the 2009 Big West Conference Tournament on Thursday, March 12.

Pacific is now 18-11 on the year, after finishing tied for second in the conference with a 10-6 mark. With the loss, the Aggies closed out their 2008-09 campaign with a 13-19 overall record.

Pacific took an early 4-0 lead, on a pair of baskets by sophomore Sam Willard (Pierre, S.D.). Senior Anthony Brown (Sacramento, Calif.) scored a couple of baskets and Willard added another bucket as the Tigers scored their first 10 points in the post and held a 12-9 lead with 12:28 to go. Pacific surged ahead 27-16 with 7:14 to play behind a 13-2 run capped by three straight three-pointers from senior James Doran (Cameron Park, Calif.), junior Lavar Neufville (Fairfield, Calif.) and junior Casey Neimeyer (Woodland, Calif.). The Tigers would score just two points the rest of the half, going 1-of-8 from the field as UC Davis cut the lead to 29-28 at the break with a 12-2 run over the final seven minutes.

The second half opened with an 8-0 Tiger run, as junior Joe Ford (Altadena, Calif.) scored all four of his points to take a 37-28 lead in the first three and a half minutes. UC Davis scored six straight points in the next half minute to cut it right back to a 37-34 Tiger advantage. Pacific was able to push the lead back to 46-39 with 10:22 left, after a layup by senior Bryan LeDuc (Corona, Calif.). Ryan Silva scored five points in a 7-0 Aggie run to tie it up at 46-46, the first tie since the 11 minute mark of the first half. After trading baskets, LeDuc again gave the Tigers another lift, scoring the next seven points to make it a 55-48 game with 5:01 to play. After another three-pointer by Silva, senior Chad Troyer (Seattle, Wash.) hit a pair of free throws and LeDuc scored on a fast break dunk to extend the lead to 59-51 with 3:39 to go. The Aggies were unable to get closer than four the rest of the way, as Pacific made 6-of-6 from the line in the final minute to close out the victory.

LeDuc led the way with 17 points, including 15 in the final 11 minutes. Willard scored 12 points, getting 10 in the first half. He also had a team-high eight rebounds.

The Tigers shot 65.0 percent in the second half (13-20), and 52.0 percent in the game. Led by LeDuc, Pacific won the battle in bench points 35-13. After going 0-2 in the first half from the free throw line, the Tigers were 12-14 in the second half, to shoot 75.0 percent for the game.

The Tigers will face Long Beach State in the semifinal round of the Big West Tournament at 7:30 p.m. on Friday, March 13 in the Anaheim Convention Center.