STOCKTON, Calif. – Honoring both seniors and Hall of Fame inductees, the Pacific men's basketball program couldn't top off a celebratory night with a victory as LMU grabbed an 86-63 decision Saturday at the Alex G. Spanos Center.
Before the game, Pacific (6-24, 0-15 WCC) held a special Senior Night ceremony for
Nick Blake,
Jalen Brown,
Cam Denson,
Lesown Hallums, Jr.,
Greg Outlaw and
Donovan Williams. Each were accompanied by friends and family members.
At halftime, the Tigers honored the Pacific Hall of Fame Class of 2024 which included football standout
Mark Nordquist, '68, women's tennis national qualifier
Tracee Lee, '95, water polo All-American
Dragan Bakic, '07,
men's swimming & diving teams from 1964-68 and
men's basketball teams from 2003-06.
For the game, LMU (11-17, 4-10 WCC) used a 32-0f-64 (.500) shooting night and a 13-of-30 (.433) from long range to get past the Tigers. The Lions played a relatively clean game as they committed just three turnovers.
Pacific was guided by Outlaw's season-high 15 points. He helped the Tigers outscore the Lions 37-11 off the bench. Pacific also garnered bench contributions from junior
Tyler Beard and sophomore
Makai Richards who tallied eight points apiece. Beard dished out four assists as well.
LMU was led by Justice Hill's 24 points. Alex Merkviladze ended with 23 points and 12 rebounds, while Lars Thiemann finished with 14 points and 10 rebounds.
The Tigers scored the first four points of the game after buckets by Denson and sophomore
Moe Odum. Though, the Lions responded with a 10-0 run to take a 10-4 edge at the 14:41 mark. LMU upped it to 17-6 with 12:35 remaining.
LMU led 32-18 when Outlaw hit a jumper to spark a 9-0 run as a pair of free throws by Richards had the Tigers down 32-27 with 4:27 left. However, LMU was able to push its lead back up to 39-30 at the half after a three-pointer in the closing seconds.
The Lions opened the second half on a 7-0 run as Pacific called timeout down 46-30 with 18:11 to go. LMU kept knocking down long range shots and pushed the lead up to 64-45 with 10:40 remaining.
Pacific got it down to 75-62 after a pair of free throws by Odum with 3:48 left but couldn't get any closer. The Lions ended the game on an 11-1 spurt.
The Tigers will conclude the regular season next Saturday with a 7 p.m. road game at San Diego. The game can be watched on ESPN+ or heard live for free on Fox Sports AM 1280 with Zack Bayrouty on the call.
NOTES
- Pacific has now won five of the last six against LMU at home. The Tigers are 16-13 all-time against the Lions at home.
- Pacific is 804-452 all-time at home and 341-219 in the Spanos Center.
- Outlaw surpassed his previous season-high of 13 points at Northern Arizona on Dec. 2, 2023. Over the last four games since his return from illness, Outlaw is 15-of-27 (.556) from the floor. He notched his 30th career double-figure scoring game and third this season.
- Over the last four home games, Brown is 13-of-22 (.591) from the field and 10-of-16 (.625) from beyond-the-arc.
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