SANTA CLARA, Calif. – The Pacific men's basketball team (15-6, 3-2) could not complete the comeback on Saturday night as they were defeated by Santa Clara (16-4, 3-2), 84-80, at the Leavey Center.
 
Despite the loss, senior Jahlil Tripp made history against the Broncos, becoming the 29th Tiger in program history to reach the 1,000-point mark with a jump shot in the paint at 5:14 in the second half.
 
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT:
 
First Half-

• Pacific controlled the ball from the opening tip, but neither team scored until a free throw by junior Broc Finstuen at 17:42, making the score 1-0 in favor of the Tigers.
• After back-to-back baskets from senior Jahlil Tripp and freshman Daniss Jenkins, UOP held a 5-4 lead at the media timeout at the 15:47 mark.
• As the half continued, the Broncos would use an 18-6 run to power ahead of the Tigers, taking a commanding 22-11 lead with 6:12 remaining in the first half.
• Less than a minute later, Tripp and graduate transfer Gary Chivichyan nailed back-to-back shots for Pacific as the Tigers rallied to within six points of Santa Clara, trailing, 22-16, at 5:26.
• Despite three straight layups from freshman point guard Pierre Crockrell II to close out the half, Pacific trailed the Broncos, 36-22, heading in the locker room.

 
Second Half-

• Having not played since Dec. 28 at UC Irvine, junior Justin Moore scored his first point in his return to action on a free throw just fifteen seconds into play.
• Aiming to trim their deficit to the Broncos, freshman Pierre Crockrell II nailed another jump shot at 17:44 to bring the Tigers to within single digits of Santa Clara, 36-28.
• In what proved to be a tale of two halves for UOP, the Tigers would claw back to within six of Santa Clara as junior Jeremiah Bailey scored eight straight points on a jumper and back-to-back three pointers, making the score 47-41 in favor of the Broncos at the 11:43 mark.
• After free throws from graduate transfer Austin Vereen and Finstuen and a triple from Moore, the Tigers came within three on a highlight-reel tomahawk jam from Tripp with 7:52 remaining in the contest.
• Following Tripp's 1,000 point at 5:14, the two teams would continue to battle back and forth, within Pacific staying in striking distance, down by four (70-66) with 2:30 on the clock.
• Although Chivichyan would nail a clutch three with 29 seconds left to cut the Bronco lead to just one, the Tigers were on the wrong end of an out-of-bounds call with fifteen seconds remaining. Ultimately, Santa Clara closed out the win by a final score of 84-80.

 
NOTABLE PERFORMANCES:

• Despite the loss, Tripp was named the City of Stockton Human Resources Hardworking Player of the Game after becoming the 29th Tiger in program history to reach the 1,000-point mark. Overall, he poured in a team-high 28 points, his second-highest point total on the season, while also adding six rebounds and three assists.
• Bailey also enjoyed a career-night as the forward finished with a season-high 13 points on 5-of-10 shooting. He also added six rebounds and two assists for UOP.
• Graduate transfer Gary Chivichyan knocked down three from behind-the-arc for a total of nine points for the Tigers.
• Pacific lead the Broncos in points off turnovers (13-10), second chance points (16-4), bench points (35-21) and points in the paint (38-36).

 
UP NEXT: Pacific will return home to the Alex G. Spanos Center this upcoming Thursday, Jan. 23 to host BYU in another crucial WCC matchup. With a five-way tie for second place in the conference, both teams are looking for their fourth win in WCC play. The game will be broadcast live at 7:00 pm on Stadium.
 
FOLLOW US:
For more updates and more information on the 2019-20 Pacific men's basketball team, be sure to follow @PacificMensBB on Twitter, @pacificmensbb on Instagram and @PacificMensBB on Facebook.