STOCKTON, Calif. – The Pacific men's basketball team cruised to an 80-56 win over Stanislaus State Tuesday evening in a non-conference contest at the Alex G. Spanos Center.
"Tonight, I thought we got off to a good start," Head Coach
Leonard Perry said after the game. "Slow starts have been our Achilles' heel, so we changed the lineup a little bit, and they played well."
Luke Avdalovic paced the Tigers (5-8) offensively, scoring a season-high 23 points. Shooting 66.6 percent (eight-for-12) from the field, Avdalovic recorded a season-high seven three-point baskets on 11 attempts. Tying his Pacific career-high in points, the senior from Folsom, Calif., was four points shy of surpassing his career-high of 26 points set on March 10, 2021, against Portland State while competing at Northern Arizona.
"He's a special player," Leonard added about Avdalovic's performance. "If he starts getting some good looks, he will be a problem for our opponents."
Sam Freeman and
Jordan Ivy-Curry also contributed to the winning efforts as the duo scored 10 points apiece. Freeman, scoring in double figures for the second time this season, shot 75 percent (three-for-four) from the field while knocking down a season-high four free throws.
Ivy-Curry, coming off the bench for the sixth straight game, scored in double figures for a team-leading eighth time this season. Serving as the team's sixth man, the sophomore from La Marque, Texas, propelled a bench unit that outscored the Warriors (3-8), 37-29.
Leading wire-to-wire, the Tigers quickly increased the lead to double-digits, 13-3, at the 15:55 mark of the first half. Holding the Warriors to just 28 percent (seven-for-25) shooting in the first 20 minutes of play, the Tigers maintained a 30-point advantage, 48-18, at the halftime break. The 30-point margin marked the team's largest halftime lead since November 26, 2019, when the Tigers led by 32 points, 49-17, against Southern Illinois-Edwardsville.
Trailing by 31, 60-31, Stanislaus State used a second-half push to get back into the game. The Warriors went on a 9-1 run to trim the lead to 21, 61-40, at the 9:28 mark of the second half. The Tigers, however, held on and powered to the 24-point victory, outscoring the Warriors by three, 19-16.
Pacific returns to action at 4 p.m. on Saturday, Dec. 15, as it hosts San Jose State for a non-conference contest at the Alex G. Spanos Center.
