Coaches Are Pals First, Then Rivals

Sometimes, it’s hard to tell that college buddies Bob Thomason, the men’s basketball coach at Pacific, and Irvine Coach Pat Douglass are also rivals.

The two had played basketball at Pacific in the early 1970s, when Thomason was a starting guard and Douglass was the first guard off the bench.

“In college you have friends,” Thomason said, “but once we got out of college, we became very close friends.”

Douglass went to Thomason’s home an hour or so after Pacific had beaten visiting Fullerton, 79-50, Thursday, and the two talked basketball.

An hour before Pacific’s game against Irvine Saturday, the two stood in a tunnel at Spanos Arena, eating pizza and watching the Pacific women’s team play Pepperdine.

“I hate playing against Bob,” Douglass said. “The games are hard. It’s not the kind of game I’m going to go out and celebrate a lot because I have mixed feelings. He’s a friend and I feel for him.”

Douglass’ team won, 85-80, Saturday to get off to a 1-0 start in Big West Conference play.

GREEN WITH ENVY

Thomason called UC Irvine guard Jerry Green “a thorn in our sides” after Green scored a team-high 32 points in Irvine’s victory in Stockton.

Pacific guard Maurice McLemore, who scored a career-high 33 points in the loss, was more specific.

“He’s a great player,” McLemore said of Green. “I couldn’t control him down the stretch like I should have. I need to work on my defense because he beat me all the time.”

ROAD BLUES

Donny Daniels, Fullerton men’s basketball coach, was hard-pressed to explain how the Titans lost to Pacific, 79-50, Thursday, despite outshooting the Tigers by nearly 10 percentage points.

“We’re letting games get away from us,” Daniels said. “We have to make a commitment to defense and the game plan. I truly believe that the kids are able to do it, but the kids have to do it.

“The most disappointing thing is that when we have been in games, say down 10 points at halftime, we come out and lose by 25.”

The Titans trailed by nine points with five minutes left in the first half at Long Beach State Saturday, but the 49ers went on a 9-2 run to lead at halftime, 38-22. Long Beach won, 78-54, handing the Titans (1-11) their eighth consecutive loss.

NOTABLE

Cal State Fullerton wrestler Babak Nejadmaghaddam (197 pounds) is unbeaten in 12 matches after competition last weekend at UC Davis. Nejadmaghaddam won dual-meet matches against opponents from Davis and Air Force, then won four matches in an open meet on Sunday.

Staff writer Lon Eubanks contributed to this story.