Pacific Gets Road Win at UC Irvine, 89-82
Feb. 1, 2007
Irvine, Calif. - The Pacific men's basketball team earned an 89-82 victory at UC Irvine on Thursday, Feb. 1 at the Bren Events Center in Irvine, Calif. The Tigers scored a season-high 89 points in the victory. The Tigers are now 8-12 overall, 4-3 in Big West Conference play, while the Anteaters fall to 10-13, 4-5 in the Big West. The Tigers started out very hot from the field, hitting eight of their first 11 shots from the field and taking a 19-6 lead with 10:51 left in the first half. The Tigers led 30-16 with 3:37 left in the half, but the Anteaters used a 10-2 run to end the half with a 32-26 deficit. Pacific held Anteaters to just 1-of-9 shooting to start the game, but UCI 10-of-16 shots the rest of the half. The Aneaters used an 18-11 run to start the second half, taking the lead (45-44) for the first time in the game with 14:27 left to play. The teams traded the lead five times before UC Irvine took a 64-61 with 6:12 left in the game. Pacific then went on an 11-0 run, fueled by four points by senior Michael White (Capitola, Calif.), to take a 72-64 lead with 3:44 left. The Tigers would not trail again, hitting 15-of-18 free throws down the stretch to seal the victory. All five Tiger starters scored in double figures, led by senior Anthony Esparza's (Bakersfield, Calif.) career-high 23 points. He hit 7-of-10 shots from the field and 9-of-12 from the free throw line. White and senior Reggie Vezia (Vacaville, Calif.) each scored 15 points, while junior Solomon Horsechief (Muskogee, Okla.) added 13 and sophomore Anthony Brown (Sacramento, Calif.) added 12. The Tigers shot 55.8% from the field, while the Anteaters shot 56.6%. After missing eight of their first nine shots, the Anteaters were 29-44 (65.9%) from the field the rest of the game. Pacific hit 24-of-34 shots from inside three-point range, an amazing 70.5%.
The Tigers are next in action at Long Beach State on Saturday, Feb. 3. Tipoff is set for 4:30 p.m. for the Fox Sports Prime Ticket telecast. |
 
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