STOCKTON, Calif. – Overcoming a cold shooting night from long range, the Pacific men's basketball program rallied in the second half to defeat Long Beach State 69-66 Wednesday at the Alex G. Spanos Center.
The Tigers (2-1) trailed by 11 at the 14:38 mark of the second half before slowly chipping away at the deficit. Pacific tied it 54-54 with 6:04 to go and built a 64-58 lead with 1:47 remaining.
The Beach (0-3) were able to force turnovers in the last minute and had an opportunity to tie it on their final possession, but a contested three-point attempt from the corner was off the mark in the closing seconds.
Pacific was 3-of-20 (.150) from beyond the arc but made up for it in the paint where it outscored LBSU 34-22. The Tigers garnered big contributions off the bench from seniors
Alexis Marmolejos and
KC Ibekwe, as Marmolejos tallied season-highs of 15 points and seven rebounds, while Ibekwe registered a season-high eight points on 4-of-5 shooting.
Senior
Elias Ralph, a WCC Preseason All-Conference Team selection, recorded 15 points and nine rebounds. He did most of his damage from the free throw line where he was 9-of-10.
An all-around effort came from senior
Jaden Clayton with nine points, six assists and four rebounds. Senior
Isaac Jack submitted a season-high nine points and four rebounds.
Both offenses came out slow as the score was tied 10-10 at the 11:31 mark of the first half. The Beach went on an 11-1 run to leap ahead 21-11 with 8:36 to go. The Tigers were able to get it down to 30-25 at the intermission after Clayton hit a jumper at the last second.
Pacific was able to trim it to 34-32 early in the second after a put-back by Jack. Though, LBSU responded with an 11-2 run to take its largest lead of the game 45-34 with 14:38 left.
Still down 49-38, a bucket by Ibekwe sparked an 8-0 spurt as the Tigers got it back down to 49-46 with 11:34 remaining. Pacific tied it 54-54 on a fast-break lay-up by Marmolejos at the 6:04 mark, and took the lead 56-54 on a field goal by Ralph with 5:30 to go.
A three-pointer by junior
Kajus Kublickas extended it to 64-58 with 1:47 left, but LBSU answered with a four-point play on the ensuing possession to make it 64-62. The Tigers again got it up to 68-62 by a dunk by Ralph in the final minute, but after a bucket, a steal and a bucket by the Beach it was 68-66 with 18 seconds left.
After LBSU fouled, Pacific made one of two free throws which gave the Beach the ball on the final possession down by three. LBSU had a pair of looks from long range in the final 10 seconds including one at the buzzer that was pressured by Ralph and off the mark.
The Beach were led by Gavin Sykes who finished with 20 points and seven rebounds. Isaiah Lewis ended with 13 points.
Up next, Pacific will be back on the road Saturday when it travels to Cal State Fullerton for a 2 p.m. tip. The Tigers lead the all-time series 49-41 and won last season 64-55 at home.
NOTES
- It was the first meeting between Pacific and LBSU since the Tigers won 65-46 on the road on Dec. 7, 2019. The Tigers are now 25-18 all-time at home against LBSU.
- It was the Beach's first trip to Stockton since the Tigers won 74-68 on Dec. 10, 2018. The two teams used to compete against each other in the Big West Conference before Pacific departed for the West Coast Conference at the end of 2012-13.
- Pacific improved to 2-0 at home after beating Lafe Pacific 83-56 on opening night. The Tigers are now 811-462 all-time at home and 347-229 at the Alex G. Spanos Center.
- The Tigers are 11-4 in two seasons under head coach
Dave Smart when they outscore the opposition in the paint.
- In the second half, Pacific's two centers Ibekwe and Jack combined to go 6-of-6 from the field.
- Ralph has scored at least 15 points in all three games this season. His nine made free throws marked a career-high. Ralph was one rebound away from his 22nd career double-double. He's averaging 18.7 points and 8.0 rebounds per game on the year.
- Marmolejos is now a perfect 8-of-8 from the free throw line on the season. It was his 28th career double-figure scoring game and second at Pacific after scoring 10 points at Nevada last weekend.
- Clayton entered the game ranked top-five in the nation in assists per game and dished out six. He was coming off an 11-assist performance at Nevada.
- The new-look Tigers reloaded with 15 newcomers this year, which included 10 transfers and five freshmen. They have Division I transfers from Binghamton, Dayton, Florida, Lamar, Long Beach State, Maine, UC San Diego and Washington.
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