March 11, 2005

Box Score

ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) - Pacific withstood its biggest scare in weeks and kept the nation's longest winning streak alive.

Tyler Newton made two late free throws to help Pacific (No. 16 ESPN/USA Today, No. 18 AP) win its 22nd straight game, a 63-61 victory over Cal State Northridge on Friday night in the Big West semifinals.

Guillaume Yango had 15 points and eight rebounds for the Tigers, who ran their Big West streak to 34 games.

Pacific (26-2) will play Utah State in the title game Saturday night at 9 p.m. on ESPN.

Christian Maraker added 13 points, and Newton finished with 12 for the top-seeded Tigers, seeking their second straight conference title.

Pacific led by as many as 12 in the second half, but Joseph Frazier gave the fourth-seeded Matadors (18-13) their first lead since early in the first half with a steal and a layup that made it 61-60 with a minute to play.

Newton's two free throws with 22 seconds left gave Pacific a 62-61 lead.

Ian Boylan scored a career-high 32 points for Northridge, but missed a short jumper with 9.1 seconds left.

Jasko Korajkic then made one of two free throws, and Frazier missed a 3-pointer at the buzzer.

"We were very fortunate tonight," Pacific coach Bob Thomason said. "Hopefully, this is a big-time scare that can get us back on track. We made some mistakes, we got away with it. It's been that way all year."

Pacific had 23 turnovers.

The two-point margin was the Tigers' closest since a 64-63 victory over Utah State on Feb. 12.

Yango had a three-point play to give Pacific its biggest lead, 56-44 with 8:19 to play.

But Boylan kept Northridge in the game, making a 3-pointer with 5:53 to play and another with 3:46 to go to bring the Matadors within three at 57-54.

Boylan scored 19 of his points in the second half, and also had seven steals.

"Boylan is a great player," Thomason said. "We had no answer for him."

The 22-game winning streak is the longest in Pacific history.

The Tigers are taking nothing for granted, assuming that they have to win the tournament for an NCAA Tournament berth.

Last year, Utah State was denied an at-large bid despite a 25-4 record and a top 25 ranking after losing in the semifinals Big West tournament.

"I don't think being in or not being in is going to affect how we play. These other teams really want to go to the NCAAs, too."

Pacific used a 17-2 run, completed by a layup from Maraker, to take a 26-11 lead with 7:15 to play in the first half. Matt Kemper's tip-in with 6 seconds to go in the half gave Pacific a 34-24 lead at halftime.