STOCKTON, Calif. – The Pacific men's basketball team battled and earned a 76-73 win over BYU Saturday evening at the Alex G. Spanos Center in front of a season-high 2,521 spectators. 
 
The Tigers (6-13, 1-4) fell behind early as the Cougars (17-6, 5-3) jumped out to a quick 5-0 lead in the game's first minute. Alphonso Anderson got the Tigers on the board first, connecting on a midrange jump shot to cut the deficit to 5-2. Anderson, who leads the team, averaging 11.3 points per game, finished the game with 15 points and dished out a game-high seven assists.
 
Fighting back from a five-point deficit, 10-5, at the 16:13 mark of the first half, Pacific set on a 6-0 run and took their first lead of the game, 11-10, just two minutes later. Nick Blake led the way for the Tigers in the first half, scoring 13 points, leading all scorers, while shooting 60 percent (six-for-10) from the field. Blake tallied his career's first 20-point performance, finished with a game-high 20 points, and grabbed eight boards. The freshman from Las Vegas, Nev., who has scored 10 or more points in six of his last eight games, leads the team in scoring during conference games, averaging 15.7 points per game.
 
The game bounced back and forth during the first half of play as the Tigers' lead ballooned to six, 16-10, at the 11:14 mark. The Cougars, however, took off on a 14-5 run and took a three-point lead, 24-21, with 5:31 left in the half. The Tigers showed resiliency and scored the final seven first-half points to take a 33-28 lead at the halftime break.
 
"Our kids came to compete tonight," Head Coach Leonard Perry stated after the game. "They withstood the runs … Every time they [BYU] went on a run, we answered, and it rattled them."
 
Perry earned his first West Coast Conference victory tonight as the Tigers defeated the Cougars for the first time since January 6, 2018.
 
Despite the Tigers scoring the first two points of the second half, the Cougars erased the deficit and cut the Tigers' lead to two, 37-35 at the 17:26 mark. The Tigers, however, held onto the narrow lead as Jeremiah Bailey scored crucial baskets in the second half. Bailey, who scored nine second-half points, recorded his first double-double of the season as he finished the game with 15 points and 11 rebounds. The senior from Fairbanks, Alaska, is averaging 9.6 points per game for the Tigers and is tied with Anderson with 35 total rebounds in conference games.
 
The Cougars outscored the Tigers in bench points, 25-13, but the reserves played a crucial role as Jalen Brown led the charge for the Tigers off the bench. Brown scored all nine of his points in the second half and was three-for-five from beyond the three-point line.
 
The Cougars eventually tied the game at 50 at the 9:33 mark of the second half, but the Tigers shortly after regained the lead and never looked back as the Tigers scored the following 12 points to hold a 62-50 advantage three minutes later. The Cougars cut the deficit to two near the end of the game; however, the Tigers held on and knocked down four crucial free throws in the final 30 seconds to solidify the victory.
 
The Tigers' defense was also crucial as the Tigers held the Cougars to 42.4 percent (25-for-59) from the field and held the Cougars to just seven made three-point baskets.
 
Pacific returns to action Monday, Jan. 31, as the Tigers travel to Santa Clara to take on the Broncos for the second time this season. Tip-off at the Leavey Center is scheduled for 6 p.m.