Feb. 24, 2007

Box Score

Northridge, Calif. - The Pacific men's basketball team dropped a 76-73 decision at Cal State Northridge on Saturday, Feb. 24 at the Matadome. The Tigers are now 11-15 overall and 5-6 in the Big West Conference, while the Matadors are 14-14 and 5-7.

After a couple of early ties, the Tigers outscored Cal State Northridge 16-8 to take a 22-14 lead with 8:33 remaining in the first half. The Matadors used a 13-0 run to turn the deficit into a 27-22 lead with 5:30 left in the half. The Tigers scored just four points over the final eight minutes of the first half and trailed 33-26 at the break.

In the second half, the Matadors increased their lead to 14 (52-38) with 11:30 left in the game. The Tigers then used a 9-1 run to cut the lead to six with 8:13 left. Senior Michael White (Capitola, Calif.) scored four points while sophomore Anthony Brown (Sacramento, Calif.) added five points in the run.

The Matadors built the lead back up to 11 (68-57) with 3:46 left in the game, but the Tigers went on a furious 12-1 run over the next two minutes to cut the lead to two (69-67) with just 1:47 remaining. Tiger junior Solomon Horsechief (Muskogee, Okla.) scored 10 of his 15 points in the Tigers' run. After forcing a turnover, the Tigers then turned the ball over to CSUN as Jonathan Heard converted it into a dunk on the other end. With Pacific down 75-73, Calvin Chitwood missed one of two free throws, but the Tigers were unable to tie the game.

Cal State Northridge was able to hold on to the victory with a strong second half from the floor as the Matadors shot over 60% in the half.

Overall, HorseChief led the Tigers with 15 points, all in the second half. White had 14 points, freshman C. J. Morgan (Elk Grove, Calif.) added 13 points and Brown had 11 for the Tigers.

The Tigers are next in action against Long Beach State in the Alex G. Spanos Center on Monday, Feb. 26. Tipoff for the ESPN2 Big Monday game is set for 9:00 p.m.