STOCKTON, Calif. – Leading from start to finish, the Pacific men's basketball team built an early advantage and held off a late surge by Seattle to win 56-54 on Saturday at the Alex G. Spanos Center.
 
With the victory, Pacific (14-8, 5-4 WCC) improved to 9-0 at home.
 
The Tigers were up by 15 at the intermission and 10 with 4:42 left before Seattle (14-8, 3-6 WCC) made a furious comeback attempt. The Redhawks trailed by two and had the ball on the final possession when Pacific forced a contested two-point jumper and pulled down a defensive rebound as time expired.
 
Pacific asserted its dominance inside where it outscored Seattle in the paint 28-16. The Tigers held a 39-27 rebounding advantage including 11-4 on the offensive glass.
 
Senior TJ Wainwright recorded 15 points, seven rebounds and three steals, while senior Isaac Jack neared a double-double with 14 points and eight rebounds. Senior Justin Rochelin was hot early and netted 10 points, while senior Elias Ralph finished with six points and nine rebounds.
 
Seattle, which has notable non-conference wins over Stanford and Washington, was paced by Brayden Maldonado's 20 points. He was 6-of-12 from three.
 
The Tigers limited Seattle to a .388 shooting clip including a .304 mark in the first half to help build their lead. Pacific was up by as many as 16 late in the first half.
 
Rochelin scored eight of his 10 points in the first four minutes to put Pacific up 12-2 early. The Redhawks fought back in the middle of the first half to cut it to 13-12 before the Tigers answered with a 16-5 run to push it back up to 29-17 with 3:47 to go.
 
Pacific's largest lead of the game was 33-17 after a hook shot by Jack at the 2:49 mark. Seattle scored the last point of the half on a free throw, but Pacific carried a 33-18 lead not the intermission.
 
The Redhawks came out hot in the second half and quickly got back in it, 35-31, with 14:14 remaining. However, jumpers by Ralph and senior Jaden Clayton put the Tigers ahead 41-31 with 10:35 left.
 
A three by Wainwright gave Pacific a 51-37 advantage at the 5:54 mark and the Tigers were still in front 53-43 after another bucket by Wainwright with 4:42 remaining.
 
Seattle's late rally included a trio of three-pointers in the final 1:43 and forced turnovers to garner more possessions. The Tigers missed three of their last four free throw attempts including a pair on the front end of one-and-one situations.
 
In the game's final sequence, the Tigers made the first but missed the second of two free throw attempts to lead 56-54 as Seattle ran the floor with 7.5 seconds left. The Redhawks drove from the right side and put up a contested 15-footer that was far-short. Wainwright applied tight defense and Ralph secured the rebound as the buzzer sounded.
 
Pacific will remain at home Wednesday when it hosts Portland at 7 p.m. on Dignity Health Night at the Spanos Center.
 
NOTES
 - It was the first meeting between Pacific and Seattle since Dec. 16, 1984 and the 14th-ever meeting between the two schools dating back to 1956-57. The Tigers now lead the Redhawks 4-1 at home.
 
- The Tigers are now 818-462 all-time at home and 355-229 in the Alex G. Spanos Center.
 
- Pacific has outrebounded all nine conference opponents this season. The Tigers entered the game ranked top-10 in the nation in rebounding margin (+9.7) and outrebounded the Redhawks 39-27.
 
- The Tigers improved to 9-0 this year when they have more fast break points, 11-1 when leading at half and 10-1 when holding the opposition to under .333 from three-point range.
 
- Pacific is now 10-0 under Dave Smart in two seasons when holding the opposition to under 60 points and 7-0 this year.
 
- Wainwright submitted his 52nd career double-figure scoring game and 16th this season. He's hit a three-pointer in 21 of 22 games on the year. His three steals marked a season-high.
 
- Jack was 6-of-9 from the field and notched his 17th career double-digit scoring performance and 10th this year. It was the fourth time in five games that he scored at least 12 points.
 
- Rochelin turned in his 16th career double-figure scoring total, eighth this season and fifth in a row. He was 4-of-8 from the floor and 2-of-3 from long distance.
 
- Clayton entered the game ranked 28th in the nation in assists per game (6.1 apg) and distributed seven.
 
- Pacific has surpassed its overall win total by five games and its conference win total by a game from last season when it finished 9-24 (4-14 WCC). 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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