SANTA CLARA, Calif. – After a tightly contested, fast-paced first half, Santa Clara slowed down the Pacific men's basketball program in the second for an 85-69 decision Wednesday at the Leavey Center.
Pacific (12-8, 4-3 WCC) led for over 13 minutes of the first half and carried an eight-point lead early on. Though, Santa Clara (15-5, 6-1 WCC) ended the first half strong and used an 18-3 spurt in the second half to create separation.
The Tigers shot .560 in the first half and .500 for the game, but the Broncos were able to force 21 turnovers. It resulted in a 28-6 advantage in points off turnovers.
Nevertheless, Pacific outrebounded Santa Clara 34-24 and pulled down 11 offensive boards. Four different Tigers secured at least five rebounds.
Senior
Elias Ralph paced the Tigers with 17 points, five rebounds and a season-high five assists. Senior
Justin Rochelin continued his hot streak with 16 points and five rebounds.
Four three-pointers came from
TJ Wainwright for 12 points. Senior
Jaden Clayton aided the attack with seven assists to go along with five rebounds.
Santa Clara was guided by Christian Hammond's 18 points. Allen Graves came off the bench to record 17 points and eight rebounds.
In a back-and-forth first half, Pacific trailed 8-7 early when a lay-up by Rochelin sparked a 9-0 run to go up 16-8 with 14:31 left. A lay-in by senior
Isaac Jack kept the Tigers ahead 30-24 at the 9:12 mark.
The Broncos hit consecutive three-pointers to grab a 36-33 edge with 5:31 remaining. Pacific answered with a pair of buckets in the paint by Jack to regain a 42-39 advantage, but Santa Clara scored the final five points of the half to carry a 44-42 lead into the intermission.
Santa Clara scored the first two points of the second half, but Ralph hit a three-pointer and a lay-up to give the Tigers a 47-46 lead with 17:17 to go.
However, the Broncos used an 18-3 run to jump ahead 62-50 with 9:54 left as the Tigers went on a seven-minute spurt with eight turnovers. Santa Clara maintained its distance the rest of the way as the lead remained in double-figures in the final nine minutes.
Pacific will conclude the week with a 3 p.m. game Saturday at Oregon State. The Tigers won the first meeting between this year 84-53 at the Alex G. Spanos Center on Jan. 2.
NOTES
- Pacific has outrebounded all seven conference opponents this season. The Tigers entered the game ranked 15th in the nation in rebounding margin at a +9.8 clip and posted a 34-24 edge. Conversely, Santa Clara was 14th in the nation in offensive rebounding with 14.3 per game but was limited to nine offensive boards.
- The Tigers began the night ranked 21st in the country in free throw percentage with a .776 mark and were right on par with a 10-of-13 (.769) clip from the line.
- Ralph tallied his 105th career double-figure scoring game, 45th at Pacific and 17th this year. He entered the game with a .884 free throw percentage and was 4-of-4 from the line. Ralph drained a trio of three-pointers in the game.
- Rochelin, who was coming off his first career double-double of 14 points and 13 rebounds against San Diego, etched his fourth consecutive double-figure scoring night. It was the 15th of his career and sixth at Pacific. Like Ralph, Rochelin was 4-of-4 from the line.
- Wainwright has now hit a three-pointer in 19 of 20 games and is now shooting .400 from distance. It was his 51st career double-digit scoring outing and 15th this year. Wainwright was coming off a season-high 25 points and career-high 10 rebounds against San Diego.
- Clayton entered the game ranked 28th in the nation in assists with 5.9 per outing and distributed seven.
- Pacific has already surpassed its overall win total by three games from last season when it finished 9-24. It's the second year in a row under head coach
Dave Smart that the Tigers have increased their win total as he inherited a 6-26 (0-16 WCC) squad from 2023-24.
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