FULLERTON, Calif. – Coming out of the gates hot, the Pacific men's basketball program built a 20-point halftime lead, which was ultimately too much for Cal State Fullerton to overcome in a wire-to-wire 85-73 victory Saturday at Titan Gym.
 
Pacific (3-1) opened the game with a 12-0 run and led by as many as 23 late in the first half. CSU Fullerton (1-3) attempted to rally back in the second half and came as close as 65-58 with 9:32 remaining before the Tigers put the game away down the stretch.
 
The Tigers shot .561 from the field and 7-of-15 (.467) from distance. They limited the Titans to a .338 clip from the floor and .240 from long range. In the first half, Pacific held CSU Fullerton to a .250 mark from the field and 1-of-14 from three.
 
Senior TJ Wainwright drained a season-high 20 points on 9-of-15 shooting. He buried a pair of threes and pulled down five rebounds.
 
Doubling his career-high was freshman Jaion Pitt with 16 points on 6-of-7 shooting. Senior Jaden Clayton scored in double-figures with 10 points and grabbed a pair of steals.
 
Pacific out-rebounded CSU Fullerton 47-33. Senior KC Ibekwe recorded eight points and a career-high nine rebounds, while senior Elias Ralph tallied eight points and seven rebounds. Senior Justin Rochelin matched his career-high with eight rebounds but got hurt in the first half and did not return.
 
Pacific opened the game with a 12-0 lead as the scoring commenced on a jumper by Wainwright. Still in front 15-5, the Tigers used a 9-0 spurt which included a three by Clayton to up it to 24-5 at the 10:18 mark.
 
Pacific kept it going as a pair of free throws by Pitt made it 33-13 with 6:09 to go. The largest lead of the game was 44-21 after a free throw by senior Alexis Marmolejos with 1:12 left. The Tigers carried a 44-24 advantage at the intermission.
 
The Titans went on a 7-0 run early in the second half to try to claw back in it 52-38. They trimmed it to 65-55 with 10:40 left.
 
The closest Cal State Fullerton came was 65-58 with 9:32 remaining. The Tigers responded with a 9-1 run to push the edge back up to 74-59 after a lay-in by Pitt with 6:23 to go. Pacific's lead never dropped below 12 points the rest of the way.
 
Up next, the Tigers will participate in the 2025 Sunshine Slam in Daytona Beach, Florida. The tournament begins with a road game at Florida Atlantic on Thursday and continues with a neutral game against Stony Brook. Pacific will face either Bethune-Cookman or Jacksonville in the finale on Nov. 25.
 
Pacific's next home game is against Sacramento State at 7 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 29. The Tigers are 811-462 all-time at home, 348-229 in the Alex G. Spanos Center and 2-0 this season. Pacific is 31-8 all-time against Sac State and 20-3 at home. The last meeting was a 74-58 home win on Dec. 1, 2016.
 

Count it! Tigers up 12-0 to start the game.#PacificProud pic.twitter.com/QNoyGzPEvH

— Pacific Men's Basketball (@PacificMensBB) November 15, 2025

NOTES
- The Tigers improved to 50-41 all-time against CSU Fullerton. The team's met for the sixth consecutive year, exchanging home and away games. Last season, Pacific won 64-55 at home as they limited the Titans to a .333 shooting day from the floor and .250 mark from long range.
 
- Pacific and CSU Fullerton used to compete against each other as members of the Big West Conference before Pacific departed for the West Coast Conference at the end of 2012-13.
 
- The Tigers won their first non-conference road game since knocking off Cal 87-79 on Nov. 10, 2023.
 
- Wainwright submitted his ninth career 20-plus scoring performance and first at Pacific. His nine made field goals were one shy of matching his career-high. It was his 39th career double-figure scoring game and third at Pacific. His five rebounds were a season-high.
 
- Pitt doubled his previous career-high of eight points against Life Pacific in the season opener. His six made field goals and three assists were also career-bests. Pitt is shooting .813 (13-16) from the field on the season.
 
- Clayton etched his 33rd career double-figure scoring game and second at Pacific. He entered the game ranked top-10 in the nation in assists per game and dished out three.
 
- Ralph entered the game ranked third in the league in blocks (1.7 bpg) and top-five in rebounding (8.0 rpg). He swatted two blocks and pulled down seven rebounds in the game.
 
- Ibekwe's nine rebounds surpassed his previous career-high of eight set four times previously.
 
- Rochelin matched his career-high with eight rebounds previously set last season at Toledo as a member of UC San Diego.
                       
Tigers Tickets
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