STOCKTON, Calif. – The Pacific men's basketball program led for nearly the entire first half and hung around in the second, but Saint Mary's ended on top 72-61 Saturday on an ESPN2 broadcast at the Alex G. Spanos Center.
Pacific (17-11, 8-7 WCC) was ahead for over 19 minutes of the first half and took a 21-10 advantage with 6:38 remaining. Though, Saint Mary's (23-4, 12-2 WCC) carried a 10-0 run from the end of the first half to the start of the second and stayed in front the rest of the way.
The Tigers were 8-of-16 (.500) from three, but the Gaels turned the ball over just four times and put up 12 more shot attempts. All eight Pacific student-athletes that saw action scored at least two points as the Tigers outscored Saint Mary's 13-9 off the bench.
A double-double came from senior
Elias Ralph with 17 points and 12 rebounds. Senior
Jaden Clayton recorded 12 points, seven assists and five rebounds, while senior
TJ Wainwright tallied 12 points and seven rebounds.
The Gaels garnered a big night from Paulius Murauskas who ended with 32 points – including 27 in the second half – and 14 rebounds.
The anticipated battle on the boards began in Pacific's favor with a 22-14 edge in the first half, but Saint Mary's ultimately won the rebounding war 37-36. It was the first time in conference play that Pacific was outrebounded as the Gaels entered the game ranked top-five in the nation in rebounding margin.
The Tigers led 11-8 early after a lay-in by senior
KC Ibekwe. Still ahead 11-10, Pacific went on a 10-0 run to increase it to 21-10 after a four-point play by Wainwright at the 6:38 mark.
The Gaels slowly trimmed into the deficit at the end of the first half. A three by Clayton kept the Tigers in front 26-20, but Saint Mary's cut it to 30-28 at the break after a last-second bucket by Murauskas.
The Gaels scored the first eight points of the second half to take a 36-30 edge with 16:20 to go. St. Mary's extended it to 41-32 with 14:49 remaining.
Back-to-back threes by senior
Justin Rochelin and Ralph made it a 41-38 game with 13:12 left, and a three by Wainwright had Pacific down just 48-47 at the 8:38 mark.
Though, Saint Mary's went on a decisive 8-0 spurt to stay ahead 56-47 with 6:58 remaining, and the Gaels kept their distance down the stretch.
Up next, Pacific will hit the road for a 6:30 p.m. game Wednesday at Washington State. The Tigers won both meetings against the Cougars last season.
NOTES
- The Tigers are now 11-2 at home this season, 820-464 all-time at home and 357-231 in the Alex G. Spanos Center.
- Pacific dropped to 13-2 this year when leading at half.
- The Tigers remain in fourth-place in the conference standings. They are a 0.5 game ahead of Oregon State, which plays Sunday on the road at Seattle.
- In two seasons at Pacific, Ralph is up to 954 points and 18 double-doubles. It was his 112th career double-digit scoring performance, 52nd at Pacific and 24th this year.
- Wainwright submitted his 58th career double-figure scoring outing and 22nd this year. He was 2-of-5 from long range and is shooting .396 from distance on the season.
- Clayton entered the game ranked 21st in the nation in assists with 6.1 per game and distributed seven. He turned in his 40th career double-figure scoring game and ninth this year.
- Despite the loss, Pacific has already clinched its first winning season since 2019-20 and third since rejoining the league in 2013-14.
- Pacific has doubled its conference win total from last year. The Tigers have surpassed their overall win total by eight games and conference win total by four games from last season. It's the second year in a row under head coach
Dave Smart that the Tigers have increased their win total from the year prior.
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