RENO, Nev. – Down by one and on defense with five seconds remaining, the Pacific men's basketball program grabbed a steal and had a pair of looks in the waning seconds, but Nevada was able to survive 78-77 Saturday at the Lawlor Events Center.
 
Nevada (2-0) was inbounding the ball underneath its own basket when senior Jaden Clayton recorded a steal and drove to the bucket. Pacific (1-1) saw both a contested lay-up and put-back attempt roll off the rim as the final horn sounded.
 
It was back-and-forth the whole way as the game featured 10 ties and 12 lead changes. The Tigers led as late as the 2:22 mark of the second half after a three by junior Kajus Kublickas. Pacific's largest lead was 68-63 with 5:06 remaining.
 
Pacific was plagued with foul trouble as they were called for 31, including 17 in the second half compared to Nevada's seven. Six different Tigers had at least four fouls with one foul out.
 
Senior Elias Ralph, who was named to the WCC Preseason All-Conference Team, led the Pacific with 21 points and eight rebounds. He was scorching hot from long range where he was 6-of-9. Ralph also swatted three blocks defensively.
 
Four Tigers scored in double-figures. Senior TJ Wainwright notched 14 points, Kublickas 11 and senior Alexis Marmolejos 10. Clayton dished out 11 assists to match his career-high.
 
Pacific was 15-of-33 (.455) from three and limited the Wolf Pack to a 4-of-15 (.267) clip.
 
Pacific trailed 20-10 early when four points from Wainwright and a dunk by Ralph trimmed it to 20-16 at the 8:23 mark. Four consecutive points by Clayton cut it to 27-26 with 5:21 left.
 
The Tigers took their first lead of the game 33-32 on a three by Ralph with 3:55 to go. Pacific extended it to 40-36 after a pair of free throws by Marmolejos with 49 seconds remaining, but the Wolf Pack scored the last four points of the half to even it 40-40 at the break.
 
Nevada created slight separation midway through the second half with a 56-50 lead at the 10:27 mark. Though, Pacific responded with an 11-1 run as a three by Kublickas put them ahead 61-57 with 7:23 remaining.
 
The Tigers up 68-63 when Nevada reeled off six straight points to go back in front 69-68 with 3:40 to go. Kublickas hit a three with 2:22 remaining, which was Pacific's final lead 73-72.
 
Nevada was led by Tayshawn Comer's 19 points. Joel Armotrading ended with 11 points and 15 rebounds, while Elijah Price finished with 10 points and 10 rebounds.
 
Pacific returns home Wednesday for a 7 p.m. game against Long Beach State at the Alex G. Spanos Center. Wainwright transferred from LBSU where he averaged 13.4 points per game last season.
 

Tigers lead in a tight one after a three by K. Kublickas#PacificProud pic.twitter.com/Lfp2sIN2oG

— Pacific Men's Basketball (@PacificMensBB) November 9, 2025

NOTES
- Saturday was the 104th meeting between Pacific and Nevada in a series that dates back to 1914-15. The Tigers lead the series 53-51.
 
- Pacific outscored Nevada 12-8 in points off turnovers and 27-26 in points off the bench.
 
- The Tigers hit 15 threes in a game for the first time Feb. 11, 2023 when they beat San Diego 99-94.
 
- Ralph has started the season with back-to-back 20-plus scoring games after submitting 20 against Life Pacific. His six three-pointers matched a career-high set against Thompson as a member of the University of Victoria. It was his 21st career 20-plus scoring game and eighth at Pacific.
 
- Wainwright tallied his second straight double-digit scoring performance and 38th of his career. He drilled a pair of threes for the second consecutive game.
 
- Kublickas, who was part of a national championship team last year at Florida, turned in a career-high 11 points. His trio of threes were also a career-most.
 
- Marmolejos registered his 27th career double-figure scoring game and first at Pacific. He was 3-of-4 from the floor, 2-of-2 from three and 2-of-2 from the free throw line.
 
- Clayton's 11 assists matched his career-high set at UMBC on Feb. 8, 2025 as a member of Maine.
 
- 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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