BOCA RATON, Fla. – The Pacific men's basketball program played its first of three games of the Geico Sunshine Slam, falling to Florida Atlantic 82-59 Thursday at Abessinio Court at Eleanor R. Baldwin Arena.
 
Pacific (3-2) ran into a buzzsaw as FAU (4-1) shot .558 from the field and was 11-of-26 (.423) from long range. The shots weren't falling for the Tigers as they were 2-of-11 (.182) from beyond the arc.
 
Senior Elias Ralph was one of three Tigers to score in double-figures. He registered 16 points on 6-of-11 shooting to go along with four rebounds and a pair of steals.
 
Senior TJ Wainwright netted 12 points and two steals, while senior Isaac Jack recorded a season-high 11 points. Senior Justin Rochelin turned in seven points and seven rebounds.
 
Pacific's only lead of the game came early as a three by Wainwright made it 7-5 at the 17:21 mark. The Tigers were down 12-10 when the Owls used an 8-0 run to build a 20-10 lead. FAU extended it to 40-28 at the half.
 
The Tigers got it down to 44-36 on a jumper by Ralph early in the second half, but the Owls pulled away in the last seven minutes.
 
Pacific will spend a week in Florida as it heads to Daytona Beach on Monday for a neutral court game against Stony Brook at 8:30 a.m. (PT) at the Ocean Center. Pacific will remain in Daytona Beach to play either Bethune-Cookman or Jacksonville in the finale Tuesday.
 
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.
 
NOTES
- The Tigers played their first-ever game in the state of Florida as a program. Pacific is now 2-2 all-time against schools from Florida with wins over Florida A&M and Florida International but defeats to FAU and Miami.
 
- Pacific outrebounded the Owls 29-28 and held a 28-24 edge in points in the paint.
 
- Ralph entered the game leading the West Coast Conference in minutes played and logged all but three seconds in the contest. It was his 92nd career double-figure scoring game, 32nd at Pacific and fourth this year. Ralph was 4-of-4 from the free throw line.
 
- Wainwright notched his 40th career double-digit scoring performance and fourth this season. He's made at least one three in every game this year. Wainwright was 3-of-3 from the free throw line.
 
- Jack surpassed his previous season-high of nine points set against Long Beach State. It was his eighth career double-figure scoring performance and first at Pacific.
 
- 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.
                    
Tigers Tickets
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