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Men's Basketball:
Pacific Holds Off UC Irvine 59-53
Jan. 19, 2008
STOCKTON, Calif. --- Pacific hit 14 of 17 free throws in the second half and held off UC Irvine, 59-53, in a Big West Conference game Saturday night at the Alex G. Spanos Center in Stockton. Anthony Brown led the Tigers (13-5, 4-1) with 12 points and eight rebounds while Steffan Johnson added 10. The Tigers improved to 7-1 at home this season. Sophomore guard Michael Hunter scored a season-high 15 points for UCI (7-11, 2-3) as did senior forward Patrick Sanders, who scored 11 of his points in the second half. Senior center Darren Fells (Fullerton HS) scored 13 points to pass 1,000 points in his career as he now has 1,005 to rank 17th all-time at the university. He also pulled down 10 rebounds for his third double-double in the past four games and the 12th of his career. Fells has 647 boards to rank eighth on the Anteater career list. He is the 11th player in UCI history to reach 1,000 points and 600 rebounds in a career. The Anteaters, who trailed 24-22 at halftime, took the lead at 34-32 on a three by Sanders with 12:41 left in the game. Pacific then went on a 22-10 run to grab a 10-point lead at 54-44 on a jumper by Brown with 4:02 remaining. UCI, trailing 56-47 with 1:47 left, received back-to-back threes by Hunter and Sanders to close the gap to 56-53 with 1:07 remaining. After a missed shot by Johnson, Fells pulled down the rebound and Sanders missed a floating jumper in the key with 24 seconds left. He fouled Brown with 21.1 seconds remaining and the Pacific forward hit 1 of 2 foul shots for a four-point lead. Hunter missed a field-goal attempt at the other end and Bryan LeDuc hit a pair of free throws for the Tigers with 11.5 seconds left for the final margin. "Michael Hunter had a breakout game, his best performance of the season, and Patrick Sanders made some big shots in the second half," UCI head coach Pat Douglass said.
"Even though we were able to come back at the end, Pacific's depth and execution down the stretch, plus their ability to hit foul shots, proved to be the difference." The Anteaters host UC Riverside next Saturday night at 7:05 in the Bren Events Center. UCI is 6-0 in games on campus this season. |
