Box Score Santa Clara, Calif. - The Pacific men's basketball team dropped a 78-76 decision to Santa Clara in overtime at the Leavey Center on Saturday, Dec. 17. The Tigers are now 4-5, while the Broncos improved to 7-3.
The Broncos hit their first three trey attempts, taking an early 14-5 just four minutes into the game. Junior Markus Duran sparked an 11-4 run with a three-pointer, as five different Tigers scored to cut SCU's lead to 18-16 with 10:22 to play in the half. Santa Clara hit two quick three-pointers to take the lead back to eight (24-16), extending it to 31-20 with 6:22 to go. Pacific ended the half on a 13-4 run, getting seven points from junior Lorenzo McCloud to cut the Bronco lead to 37-35 at the break. The Tigers shot 54.5 percent from the field, but were outscored 9-0 on points off of turnover in the first 20 minutes.
Pacific's run extended into the second half, with the Tigers taking a 48-42 lead on a layup by sophomore
Khalil Kelley at the 15:12 mark. The Broncos went on another run, outscoring the Tigers 15-4 over the next seven minutes to hold a 57-50 lead with 8:54 remaining. The Tigers again battled back, using a 9-0 run on five points from junior
Travis Fulton and four from McCloud to pull ahead 59-57 with 4:30 to go. The Tigers darted ahead 65-59 with 2:55 left after a pair of layups from sophomore
Khalil Kelley. The Broncos scored four straight to cut it to 65-63 with just 1:55 to play. After McCloud's two free throws gave the Tigers 67-63 lead, Evan Roquemore hit a three-pointer with :47 seconds remaining to cut it to 67-66. McCloud went back to the line with :34 and nailed a pair of free throws to extend again to 69-66. Foster hit a three-pointer with :21 seconds left to even it up. After Pacific turned it over on the ensuing possession, Roquemore missed a long three-pointer to send it to overtime.
In overtime, three offensive rebounds gave SCU the ball for almost a minute and a half, with Foster hitting another three-pointer. A pair of free throws by Roquemore gave Santa Clara a 74-69 lead two minutes into the extra frame. McCloud responded with a lay-in to make it 74-71. After the Broncos pulled ahead 76-71, junior
Colin Beatty nailed a three-pointer to cut it to 76-74 with :46 seconds to play. Raymond Cowels hit a pair of free throws to get the lead back to four (78-74). Fulton had a lay-in as time expired for the Tigers.
McCloud led the Tigers with 22 points, while junior
Travis Fulton added 15 points. Foster led the Broncos with 26 points. The Tigers shot a season-high 52.0 percent from the field, but committed 20 turnovers. SCU outscored the Tigers 17-5 on points off of turnover. Pacific has won all four home games, but dropped to 0-5 on the road.
The Tigers are next in action at Cal State Bakersfield on Thursday, Dec. 22. The tipoff is scheduled for 7:00 p.m.
