Box Score Stockton, Calif. -- The Pacific men's basketball team rallied from a 13-point second half deficit but dropped a 56-53 decision to UC Santa Barbara on Saturday, January 28 in the Alex G. Spanos Center. With the loss, the Tigers fell to 7-13 on the year and to 3-5 in the Big West Conference. The Gauchos improved to 11-7 overall and 6-2 in Big West Conference games.
Junior Markus Duran kept the Tigers even in the early going, hitting a pair of three-pointers for a 6-6 score. The Gauchos then held Pacific without a point for five minutes, taking a 12-6 lead with 12:26 to play in the half. The Tigers put up five straight points, including a three-pointer from junior Rodrigo De Souza to cut the lead to 12-11 with 10:43 left on the clock. The Gauchos reciprocated, posting five quick points to take a 17-11 lead. Junior Trevin Harris connected with a three-pointer to make it 17-14 with 7:53 left in the half. After Harris's shot, the Tiger offense was shut down, as UCSB posted a 9-0 run to take a 26-14 lead. The Tigers scored on pair of free throws by Duran with a minute remaining for the only two Pacific points in the final 7:53 of the first half. UCSB led at the break 26-16, as the Tigers hit just five of 26 shots from the field (19.2 percent).
The Tigers opened the first half with a jumper from junior Lorenzo McCloud, marking Pacific's first field goal since the 7:53 mark in the first half, and converted a three-point play to make it 26-19. After a pair of Gaucho free throws, Pacific embarked on a 6-2 run that cut the UCSB lead to five (30-25) with 13:53 left in the game. UCSB responded with a quick 8-0 run to take its largest lead of the game (13 points) and bring the score to 38-25 with 11:54 to play. McCloud started a 13-4 run with a pair of free throws and scored five points, dropping the Gaucho advantage to 42-38 with 7:44 to go. The Gauchos scored four of the next five points to push their lead back to seven 46-39, but junior Travis Fulton and McCloud each nailed big three-pointers as part of an 11-4 run that would bring the Tigers to within a basket (50-48) with 1:38 remaining in the game. UCSB's Orlando Johnson hit one of two from the line, setting up another big three-pointer from Fulton that tied the game at 51-51 with :54 seconds left. UCSB's Kyle Boswell connected with a three-pointer of his own to give the Gauchos a 54-51 lead before McCloud earned a trip to the free throw line. McCloud converted both shots to bring the Tigers to within one, but Johnson made a pair of free throws to drive the Gaucho lead back to three with :14 seconds remaining. McCloud's three-point attempt at the buzzer was just short.
McCloud led the Tigers with 20 points, all in the second half. He also grabbed a career-high eight rebounds. Harris, Fulton and Duran each finished with eight points. UCSB hit 16 of 18 from the free throw line, while the Tigers were 16 of 22.
The Tigers are next in action on Thursday, February 2 at UC Riverside. Tip-off is scheduled for 8:00 pm in Riverside. Listen live at www.pacifictigers.com.
