March 7, 2009
Box Score
Stockton, Calif. - The Pacific men's basketball team closed out their 2008-09 regular season in style, defeating Cal State Northridge 62-55 on senior night in the Alex G. Spanos Center on Saturday, Mar. 7.
The win moved the Tigers to 17-11 on the season. Pacific finished 10-6 in league play, tying for second in the Big West Conference. Cal State Northridge closed its regular season at 15-13 overall and 11-5 in conference play. The victory was also Pacific's 14th in the last 15 on "Senior Night."
The Tigers found themselves in an early hole, falling behind 7-0 in the first four minutes of the game. Senior James Doran (Cameron Park, Calif.) hit a three-pointer to cap a 7-2 spurt as Pacific cut the lead to 9-7 with 13:50 remaining in the first half. The Matadors again pulled ahead by seven, taking an 18-11 lead with 8:15 left. Senior Chad Troyer (Seattle, Wash.) hit a three-pointer in a 6-1 run as Pacific again trimmed the lead to two (19-17) at the 5:41 mark. After the Matadors pulled ahead by six, Doran scored the final eight points of the half for Pacific as the Tigers finished the half on an 8-2 run. That evened the game at 25-25 heading into halftime.
Pacific took a 27-25 lead on a layup by junior Lavar Neufville (Fairfield, Calif.) just 40 seconds into the second half, as the Tigers grabbed the lead for the first time. Cal State Northridge regained the lead, taking a 39-35 advantage with 13:19 to play. The Tigers shot right back with an 8-0 run, getting treys from Troyer and senior Michael Kirby (North Highlands, Calif.) to take a 43-39 lead. The Matadors came right back with three straight baskets to gather a 45-43 lead with 7:35 to play and it was evened up again on a pair of free throws by Tiger senior Bryan LeDuc (Corona, Calif.). Doran made two more three-pointers on the next two Pacific possessions, but was matched by six points from the Matadors to make it 51-51 with 4:56 to go. Tremaine Townsend hit a pair of free throws to give CSUN a two point advantage, but LeDuc answered again with a layup on the other end and after hitting a free throw on the same play gave the Tigers a 54-53 lead with 2:54 remaining. LeDuc hit 1-of-2 from the free throw line with 1:36 to make it 55-53, but Townsend scored on the other end to tie it for the 11th and final time at 55-55 as the Matadors would not score again. LeDuc again scored with a three-point play to make it 58-55 with just under a minute to go. After rebounding a miss by Rod Haynes on the defensive end, Kirby hit a short jumper at the end of the shot clock to give Pacific a 60-55 lead. Kirby then put the game away with a pair of free throws. The score was tied 10 times in the second half, and there were seven lead changes, as neither team led by more than four until the minute of the game.
Doran led all players with a career-high 20 points. He hit 6-of-7 three-point attempts and has made 10 of his last 11 from downtown. LeDuc scored 13 points, and pulled down a career-high 13 rebounds for his first career double-double. He had six of those rebounds in the final 4:20 of the game, including defensive rebounds on the final two Northridge possessions. Kirby added 10 points for the Tigers.
The Tigers are next in action at the Big West Conference Tournament on Thursday, March 12. Pacific will face the lowest remaining seed at 6:00 p.m. at the Anaheim Convention Center.
