STOCKTON, Calif. – In its finale tune-up before West Coast Conference play, the Pacific men's basketball program never trailed in a 95-82 win over Nicholls on Sunday at the Alex G. Spanos Center.
 
Pacific (9-4, 0-0 SLC), which improved to 5-0 at home this year, led Nicholls (3-8, 2-0 SLC) by four with 1:36 remaining before ending the game on a 10-1 run. The wire-to-wire win came after 53 fouls and six technicals were called in a chippy affair down the stretch.
 
Both teams were hot from the floor as the Tigers posted a whopping .689 field goal percentage, a season-high, while the Colonels recorded a .556 mark. Pacific did a better job of capitalizing at the free throw line where it was 29-of-36 (.806), compared to Nicholls' 12-of-23 (.552).
 
A pair of big performances came from seniors Elias Ralph and TJ Wainwright. Ralph paved the way with 25 points on 10-of-16 shooting, while Wainwright drained a season-high 23 points on 6-of-8 shooting including 9-of-9 from the free throw line.
 
Ralph and Wainwright were two of four double-figure scorers for Pacific. Senior Isaac Jack netted 14 points, while senior Jaden Clayton finished with 12 points and four assists.
 
The Colonels, who entered play on a three-game winning-streak, were guided by Jaylen Searles who ended with 21 points and was 4-of-7 from long range.
 
Pacific outrebounded Nicholls 33-21 and held a 52-38 advantage in points in the paint.
 
The Tigers grabbed an early 9-0 lead, which included five points from Wainwright. A lay-up by senior KC Ibekwe kept Pacific ahead 17-8 at the 12:45 mark.
 
Nicholls came within 34-31 with 3:49 to go, but an old-fashion three-point play by Jack upped it back to 40-31 with 2:21 left. After a three by Nicholls, the Tigers scored the last five points of the half as a pair of free throws by jack made it 45-34 at the intermission.
 
Pacific's largest lead was 47-34 (later matched by the final score) with 19:34 remaining early in the second after another score by Jack. Though, Nicholls went on a 7-0 spurt to trim it to 47-41 with 16:21 left.
 
Despite the Tigers staying ahead the whole way, the Colonels were on striking distance until the end was a lay-up by Searles cut it to 71-68 at the 5:23 mark. A jumper by Ralph pushed it up to 87-81 with 1:10 to go, and Pacific did not allow another point in the final 57 seconds.
 
Fouls called both ways resulted in four players being disqualified, and seven more student-athletes ended the game with four fouls.
 
Pacific will have a week off from competition before opening conference action on the road next Sunday at 3 p.m. at San Diego. The next home game is Friday, Jan. 2 at 7 p.m. against Oregon State.
 


NOTES
 - It was the first-ever meeting between Pacific and Nicholls.
 
- It was Pacific's first game against a team from the state of Louisiana was Dec. 2, 1989 when it fell to Louisiana-Lafayette (known as Southwestern Louisiana at the time) 81-78 on the road. It was the first win and first home game against a team from Louisiana since Dec. 20, 1976 when it beat LSU 89-76.
 
- The Tigers won nine non-conference games for the first time since 2019-20 when they won 12.
 
- Pacific is now 814-427 all-time at home and 351-229 in the Spanos Center.
 
- The Tigers set season-highs in field goal percentage (.689), free throws made (29) and free throw attempts (36).
 
- Pacific entered the game ranked top-30 in the country in rebounding margin (+9.0) and held a 33-21 edge over the Colonels.
 
- Nicholls was only able to grab six steals from Pacific after entering the game ranked top-20 in the nation with 10.3 steals per game.
 
- Pacific improved to 7-0 this year when leading at half, 6-0 when it scores more fast break points and 4-0 coming off a loss.
 
- Ralph submitted his 24th career 20-plus scoring performance, 12th at Pacific and fifth this season. His 10 made field goals were the second-most of the year after he was 12-of-22 (31 points) at Air Force. It was his 99th career double-figure scoring game, 39th at Pacific and 11th this year.
 
- Wainwright drilled his 11th career 20-plus scoring performance and third this season. He surpassed his previous season-high of 22 points against Simpson. His seven rebounds were one shy of a career-high. His nine made free throws were a season-high and one shy of his career-high.
 
- Jack was a perfect 4-of-4 from the field to increase his field goal percentage to .771 on the year. It was the sixth time this year that he was perfect from the floor. Jack submitted his 13th career double-figure scoring outing and sixth this season.
 
- Clayton notched his 36th career double-digit scoring game and fifth this season. He was 5-of-8 from the floor and hit a three.
 
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