Pacific Handles Northridge Again
Pacific wasn’t fooled by its 28-point victory over Cal State Northridge in Stockton on Wednesday. The Tigers expected a better effort from the Matadors on their home court in Saturday’s rematch, and they got it.
Northridge pushed Pacific to the limit, but the Tigers prevailed, 70-66. Pacific, 20-7 overall and 10-2 in the Big West Conference, secured one of the top two seedings in the conference tournament. The Tigers can claim the regular-season championship outright this week by beating UC Santa Barbara and Cal Poly San Luis Obispo.
“We put ourselves in their shoes,” said Pacific guard Mike Webb, who led all scorers with 23 points. “If we came here and got beat by [28] and they came to our place, we would definitely want to return the favor.”
Jonathan Heard and Mike Efevberha each scored 17 points for Northridge (10-15, 3-9) and Jason Hill added 12. Hill, a freshman, was part of the “futures” lineup Coach Bobby Braswell decided to start -- two freshmen, two sophomores and a junior -- after Wednesday’s 79-51 loss.
“Jason Hill played extremely well in practice over the last few days, and it was time for me to show a little courage and a little confidence in him,” Braswell said.
“It’s been a long time since I’ve seen our team give a great effort where they just put everything on the line. I told them I didn’t care what the score was; if we could do that I’d be happy regardless of what the outcome was.”
-- Mike Terry
Santa Clara 81, Loyola Marymount 70 -- Brody Angley scored 19 points and Sean Denison added 18 to lead the host Broncos past the Lions.
Brandon Worthy scored 14 points for Loyola Marymount (11-16, 8-5 West Coast Conference), which lost its third in a row. Santa Clara (11-15, 4-9), which led, 35-34, at halftime, made 70% of its shots from the field in the second half.
Long Beach State 96, UC Davis 92 -- Aaron Nixon had 33 points and the 49ers held off the Aggies in overtime at Davis.
Nixon made 14 of 19 shots from the field and the 49ers (14-11, 7-5 Big West) won for the eighth time in their last 11 games. Phil Rasmussen had 27 points and 13 rebounds for UC Davis (8-18).
St. Mary’s 76, Pepperdine 66 -- Daniel Kickert, Ian O’Leary and Todd Golden each made three-point baskets during a second-half surge that keyed the Gaels’ comeback victory at Moraga.
Pepperdine (7-18, 3-10 West Coast Conference) had a 60-54 lead, but St. Mary’s (15-11, 7-6) went on a 13-0 run to take control.
Cal Poly San Luis Obispo 76, Cal State Fullerton 72 -- Chaz Thomas and Dawin Whiten combined to score 26 points and the Mustangs (9-16, 7-5 Big West) fought off a late rally by the Titans at San Luis Obispo. Cal State Fullerton (13-12, 5-9) was led by Frank Robinson’s 18 points.
UC Santa Barbara 81, UC Riverside 71 -- Cecil Brown scored 19 points and the host Gauchos (13-12, 5-7 Big West) brushed aside the Highlanders (4-21, 3-10). Rickey Porter scored 16 of his game-high 24 points in the first half to keep Riverside close at 34-28.
