LAS VEGAS – Crucial defensive plays in the final minute helped solidify a 61-58 win for the sixth-seeded Pacific men's basketball program over seventh-seeded Seattle in the third round of the Credit Union 1 West Coast Conference Men's Basketball Championship on Saturday at Orleans Arena.
 
Pacific (18-14) made three stops in the last 51 seconds to stay ahead of Seattle (20-13). The Tigers were up 60-58 when senior Elias Ralph blocked a shot with 10 seconds remaining on a driving lay-up. After Pacific was fouled and made one of two free throws, the Tigers contested a three-pointer in the closing seconds and grabbed a rebound to seal it.
 
It came after Pacific found itself trailing 28-16 with 6:22 left in the first half. The Tigers ended the half on a 16-1 run to lead 32-29 at the intermission and were ahead for over 18 minutes in the second half.
 
Pacific led by as many as 53-43 with 6:47 to go before thwarting a late push by the Redhawks. Seattle cut it to 60-58 with 1:30 remaining before the Tigers slammed the door shut.
 
Ralph, an All-Conference First-Team selection, paced the Tigers with 15 points, seven rebounds, two blocks and a pair of steals. He was the only Pacific student-athlete to score in double-figures.
 
The Tigers garnered a pair of big contributions off the bench from juniors Kajus Kublickas and Alexis Marmolejos. Kublicks tallied nine points and three assists, while Marmolejos contributed with seven points. The Tigers outscored the Redhawks 24-9 off the bench.
 
Pacific outrebounded Seattle 40-34. Senior Justin Rochelin pulled down a game-high 10 rebounds to go along with seven points.
 
The Redhawks were guided by Jun Seok Yeo's 16 points and seven rebounds. Brayden Maldonado ended with 13 points, the two of them combined for six three-pointers made.
 
The Tigers got off to a slow start and trailed 12-6 at the 12:10 mark. Seattle pushed it up to 22-11 with 9:08 left and took its biggest lead 28-16 with 6:22 remaining.
 
Pacific stormed back with an 11-0 run which included six points from Kublickas to trim it to 28-27 with 2:18 to go. After a free throw by the Redhawks, a three by Kublickas gave the Tigers a 30-29 lead. A fast break bucket by Marmolejos in the final minute put Pacific up 32-29 at the half.
 
Senior Jaden Clayton hit a three early in the second to lead 38-32, but the Redhawks responded with a 7-0 run to take a 39-38 edge at the 15:30 mark. Seattle's final lead of the game was 41-40 with 12:16 left.
 
Pacific went back in front 43-41 on a pull up jumper by Marmolejos with 11:10 remaining. After Seattle scored the next bucket, the Tigers went on a 10-0 spurt as a three by Rochelin upped it to 53-43 with 6:47 to go.
 
The Redhawks slowly crept back in it and got it down to 58-55 with 2:20 left. After a jumper by Ralph, Maldonado responded with a three to trim it to 60-58 at the 1:30 mark.
 
The Tigers forced four missed shots by Seattle in the final minute. The last was a tough three-point attempt by Maldonado with three seconds left for the tie.
 
With the win, Pacific advances to the quarterfinals Sunday at 8 p.m. against third-seeded Santa Clara. The game will be nationally televised on ESPN2.
 
NOTES
- Pacific finished 2-0 against Seattle this year in two very similar games. In the 56-54 regular season win at home (the only regular season meeting between the two), the Tigers were up 10 with 4:42 left before the Redhawks pulled within two and had the ball on the final possession. The Tigers made a stop and grabbed the final rebound in both games, each decided by one possession.
 
- The Tigers posted their first conference tournament win since 2022-23 when they topped Pepperdine 84-71 in the first round.
 
- Pacific outrebounded Seattle 40-34. It came after it outrebounded 16 of 18 teams in conference and entered the game ranked 11th in the country in rebounding margin.
 
- The Tigers improved to 3-0 on a neutral court. They won their Multi-Team Event (MTE) in Daytona Beach. Florida with double-figure victories over Stony Brook 86-58 and Jacksonville 68-53 in the GEICO Sunshine Slam Ocean Bracket.
 
- Pacific improved to 14-0 in two seasons under head coach Dave Smart when holding the opposition to under 60 points and 11-0 this year.
 
- Ralph is up to 1,016 points in two seasons at Pacific and is the first two-year player in school history to score 1,000 points. It was his 116th career double-figure scoring game, 56th at Pacific and 28th this season.
 
- Rochelin recorded 10 or more rebounds for the fifth time this year. He was 2-of-3 from three after shooting .460 from distance in conference.
 
- Senior TJ Wainwright, an All-Conference Honorable Mention, was 3-of-6 from beyond-the-arc and is now shooting .398 from long range on the season.
 
- Clayton is up to 201 assists which is the school record for assists in a season. He entered the game ranked top-20 in the country in assists with 6.3 per game and was right on par with six. He's up to 1,005 career points in four Division I seasons.
 
- Pacific has doubled its overall win total from last year. It came after the Tigers doubled their conference win total. It's the second year in a row under Smart that the Tigers have increased their win total from the year prior.
 
- Pacific will play in the WCC Quarterfinals for the first time since 2019-20. The Tigers will look to win two games in the same conference tournament for the first time since 2012-13 when they were members of the Big West.

  Quoting Head Coach Dave Smart
On the game
"It's way better than the feeling last year at this time."

"Seattle's so well coached because he [Chris Victor] does such a good job, and they basically play the same way we play. They defend really well. They have a plan they stay with and they're physical. They've got a lot of tough guys, and I think we have a decent amount of tough guys too."

"When we took the job, our president and athletic director said they wanted to take basketball seriously and do it the right way with the right culture. We recruited very differently. We made it very clear: this is how we're going to work. We want like-minded people who want to be in the gym and want to get better. A lot of these guys want to do more work than I'd even ask them to do."

"We've won a lot of games like this where we could have easily lost if they weren't tough-minded and together. We were throwing this one away, but we got stops on the last two possessions when we needed them. That's a credit to character as much as it is to talent."

"March is a funny time when you play a team like us because we defend and we fight."

Quoting Elias Ralph
On the game
"It's a really special feeling seeing how last year ended — getting bounced in the first round — and now getting one under our belt in the tournament."

On the last shot of the game
"I was just trying to be fundamental. I knew the clock was winding down, so I wanted to force him to his weak hand and contest the shot. I got a piece of it."

On Santa Clara
"It just comes down to our defense. Both times we played them it was close at halftime, but we lost it defensively in the second half. We have to put 40 minutes of solid defense together."

Quoting Kajus Kublickas
On the game
"I was trying to do whatever I need to do for my team. No matter how many points we're down, we still got to play. I'm really proud of our guys that we stayed in the game."
 


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