STOCKTON, Calif. – Alec Kobre's buzzer-beating 3-pointer at the end of overtime lifted Pacific to thrilling 73-72 victory against Santa Clara men's basketball Monday night in the West Coast Conference opener for both teams.
Jared Brownridge continued his hot-shooting streak with a game-high 36 points, including a career-high eight 3-plointers, for the Broncos, but Pacific (2-8) had four players score in double figures lead by a team-high 19 from Ray Bowles and 14 by T.J. Wallace.
Kobre, playing in just his fourth game of the season, had six of Pacific's 10 points in overtime of a game Santa Clara (4-9) led for more than 40 minutes and shot 49 percent from the floor, including a school-record 16 three-pointers (on 27 attempts).
Brownridge, who scored 20 or more points for the fourth-straight game and went 10-for-17 from the floor, gave the Broncos a 70-65 lead on a 4-point play with 2:29 left in the extra session. He missed a driving layup, but Matt Hauser corralled the rebound and fed Brownridge in the left corner who nailed a 3-pointer while being fouled.
But on the ensuing possession, Kobre, who had 11 points in the game, hit three free throws after being fouled on a 3-point attempt.
After Nate Kratch hit a hook shot in the lane for a 72-68 lead, Bowles had a tip-in with 40 seconds left to cut the lead to 2. Brownridge then missed a runner with 25 seconds left and the ball went out of bounds and Pacific took possession.
But Kratch produced one of his career-high four blocked shots on a Wallace layup attempt. Santa Clara's KJ Feagin rebounded the ball and was fouled with 6.8 seconds on the clock, but the freshman missed both free throws to set up the dramatic ending.
Jacob Lampkin rebounded the second miss, fed Wallace, who dribbled the ball into the frontcourt where he handed the ball off to Kobre on the right wing. The senior guard let the ball go from well behind the 3-point line with less than 1 second on the clock and the Tigers' saw their five-game losing streak come to an end.
"We had our opportunities to close it out," Santa Clara head coach Kerry Keating said. "The obvious one was at the free throw line. Unfortunately for KJ he missed that opportunity."
The Broncos led 54-42 with 8:17 left in regulation when Brendyn Taylor nailed a 3-pointer from the top of the key, but the Tigers scored the next 10 points during a 5-minute stretch.
A pair of free throws by Brownridge ended the run and Santa Clara led 58-52 with 3:06 left in the second half. However, the Broncos turned the ball over three times and the Tigers scored nine of the next 11 points.
Jacob Lampkin's driving layup gave Pacific a 61-60 lead, its first since there were 2 minutes gone in the game, with 47 seconds on the clock.
But Brownridge answered on the next trip down the floor. His 3-pointer from the right wing with 37 seconds remaining gave Santa Clara a 2-point lead.
Wallace then sent the game to overtime with a layup with 1.3 seconds left to make it 63-all.
"We were fortunate to shoot well and obviously Jared had it going," Keating said. "He played about as many minutes as he possibly could. We got off to a good start and played well. And obviously any road game in this league is going to be nip and tuck and no lead is safe."
The Broncos got off to a fast start and ended up connecting on seven 3-pointers in the opening 20 minutes.
They used a 14-0 run to take a 16-5 lead with 14:17 left in the half. Kai Healy started the onslaught with two 3-pointers in the first 3 minutes of the game before Matt Hubbard and Jared Brownridge also hit from behind the 3-point line.
With Santa Clara making 8 of its first 11 field goal attempts the lead built to 22-8 with 11:49 left in the first half before Pacific rallied.
The Tigers went on an 9-0 run of its own when Santa Clara turned the ball over five times in a 6-minute stretch. D.J. Ursery opened the flurry with a pair of layups and when Maleke Haynes hit a 3-pointer at 7:38 the lead Broncos lead had shrunk to 22-17.
"We had 10 turnovers in the first half," Keating said. "When you're shooting [57 percent] from the floor and you turn it over 10 times, you're giving away at least 10 points. We got a little careless and little loose with it and we've been a good job of taking care of the ball."
After missing six straight field goal attempts, Feagin stopped the drought with a jumper in the lane to begin a string of four straight Santa Clara buckets. Brownridge added back-to-back postup layups to increase the lead to 33-24 with 1:19 left in the half, but the Tigers scored the final three points of the half.
Feagin played a career-high 40 minutes and produced a career-best eight assists.
'A young team is going to have to learn that the game is a full 40 minutes and sometimes 45," Keating said. "That's a process some young guys have to go through."
After playing the last two games on the road, the Broncos are back home Wednesday to face Saint Mary's. Tipoff is set for 8 p.m.
Notes: The total of 16 made 3-pointers by the Broncos snapped the school record of 15 vs. Gonzaga on March 5, 2001 … Jared Brownridge (227) moved from a fourth-place tie into third on the school's career 3-pointers made list. He entered the game tied with Raymond Cowels III (219/2009-13) and passed Kyle Bailey (225/2001-05) … Brownridge's eight 3-pointers are tied for second on the school's single-game list. Kevin Foster had a school-record nine vs. Air Force on March 18, 2011 … Brownridge (36) scored 20 or more points for the four-straight game and sixth time this season.
Santa Clara-Pacific Series: The Broncos have a 92-44 edge in a series that dates back to 1905. This is the third season the Tigers have been a member of the West Coast Conference, and the series is now tied at 3-all in that span. But the teams have faced each other every season since 1994-95. The 136 games played are the fifth-most among all-time Santa Clara opponents.