Nov. 7, 2010

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Stockton, Calif. - Behind 42 second half points the Pacific men's basketball team downed Chico State, 59-44 on Sunday, November 7. In front of 1,937 fans at the Alex G. Spanos Center the Tigers closed out exhibition play 2-0.

After the Wildcats' Jay Flores hit a three-pointer to open the scoring, Tiger senior Sam Willard (Pierre, S.D.) scored on a jump hook and a dunk to give Pacific a 4-3 lead. Chico State broke a 5-5 tie with a three-pointer from Chris Sharp that sparked the Wildcats to an 8-1 run to take a 13-6 lead with 8:54 to play in the first half. Willard scored four points in a 6-0 run to cut the lead to 13-12 with 4:16 to play. After Chico State regained a 17-12 lead, the Tigers evened it up at 17-17 after a 5-0 run capped by another basket by Willard. Amir Carraway hit a three-pointer with :05 remaining to give the Wildcats a 20-17 lead at halftime. The Tigers shot just 30.4 percent in the first half, and turned the ball over 10 times.

Pacific jumped out to a hot start in the opening minutes of the second half, as sophomore Allen Huddleston (Merced, Calif.) hit back-to-back three pointers to erase the deficit in the Tigers' first two possessions. The Tigers extended the run to 11-0 as they took a 28-20 lead with just under 16 minutes to play. Another three-pointer from Sharp cut the Tigers' lead to 32-26. Pacific then used a 14-0 run to extend the lead to 46-26 with 8:30 remaining. Five different Tigers scored in the run, as Willard scored five points in the game-turning run. Junior Jose Rivera (Brentwood, Calif.) hit his second three-pointer moments later to give the Tigers their largest lead of the game at 49-27 with 7:25 to go. Pacific's lead did not fall below 14 the rest of the way. The Tigers shot 53.1 percent in the second half, including seven makes on 13 three-point attempts.

Willard led the Tigers with 17 points and 14 rebounds, his second double-double of the preseason. Senior Pat Eveland (San Diego, Calif.) added 11 points and six rebounds. Senior point guard Demetrece Young (Oklahoma City, Okla.) had six assists, finishing the preseason with 11 assists and no turnovers.

Pacific opens the regular season with a road contest at UTEP on Friday, Nov. 12.