Nov. 22, 2009
Despite Kevin Foster's 22 points, Pacific defeated Santa Clara 84-57 in Stockton on Sunday night. Santa Clara is 2-2 and Pacific is 2-1; and the Broncos return home to host Northern Arizona on Wed., Nov. 25 at 7 pm.
Santa Clara shot 33.3 percent from the field, including 31.8 percent from beyond the arc. Santa Clara collected 28 rebounds, 10 steals and 1 block with 16 turnovers. Pacific shot 55.6 percent from the field - an impressive 77.3 percent in the second half. They shot 63.2 percent from beyond the arc, collecting 12 three pointers. Pacific collected 40 rebounds, eight steals and 19 assists.
Foster scored 22 points on five three pointers, going 3-4 from the free throw line with five steals, but also turned the ball over five times. Robert Smith scored nine points with three steals. Marc Trasolini had eight points with four rebounds. Troy Payne led the Broncos with six rebounds.
"Our energy at the beginning helped us defend better, but there seemed to be no carry over to the second half," said Bronco head coach Kerry Keating. "It's a tough go right now with a young team, but have to play hard the entire game. Our charge right now is to find the guys that will play their hardest."
On Pacific shooting almost 73 percent in the second half: "We didn't make them earn it. We made some bad shots and played a little selfish on offense which didn't help," said Keating. "We weren't attacking like we needed to in the second half. Right now this young team has a lot to work on."
In the first half both teams played tough D early on. Tied up three times, Santa Clara took a 9-8 lead on a Michael Santos three at 13:05 and then went up 11-8 on a put-back by Chris Cunningham. But the Tigers laced together a 13-1 run over the next seven minutes to take a 21-12 lead at 4:12. Foster hit his first three of the night at 3:51 to make it 21-15. Trasolini hit a short jumper at :12, but the Tigers ended the half with a three of the fingertips of Demetrece Young to make it 33-23 Tigers at the half.
The Tigers shot 40.6 percent to Santa Clara's 33.3 percent in the first half. The Tigers outrebounded the Broncos 24-17 and Santa Clara turned it over eight times to the Tigers six.
The Tigers opened the second half on a 7-2 run, taking a 40-25 lead at 18:39. Robert Smith hit a three-pointer at 18:24 and then Foster scored seven straight Bronco points with the Tigers up by eight - 43-35 at 14:07.
The Tigers rallied to go another run, this one 9-0 and took a 57-39 lead on at 10:10. Michael Santos hit a bucket to make it 57-41 Tigers, but UOP came back to scored seven straight to take a 64-41 lead at 8:41.
The Tigers lead was cut after two Smith free throws at 6:26, making 66-49. UOP hit two threes to put the game out of reach and won 84-57.